Online Friendship, Romance, and Sex: Properties and Associations of the Online Relationship Initiation Scale

Dating is widely thought of as a test phase for romantic relationships, during which new romantic partners carefully evaluate each other for long-term fit. However, this cultural narrative assumes that people are well equipped to reject poorly suited partners. In this article, we argue that humans are biased toward pro-relationship decisions—decisions that favor the initiation, advancement, and maintenance of romantic relationships. We first review evidence for a progression bias in the context of relationship initiation, investment, and breakup decisions. We next consider possible theoretical underpinnings—both evolutionary and cultural—that may explain why getting into a relationship is often easier than getting out of one, and why being in a less desirable relationship is often preferred over being in no relationship at all. We discuss potential boundary conditions that the phenomenon may have, as well as its implications for existing theoretical models of mate selection and relationship development.

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Personality and Nonverbal Social Behavior: An Ethological Perspective of Relationship Initiation

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology ◽

10.1006/jesp.1993.1020 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 434-461 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Jeffry A. Simpson ◽

Steven W. Gangestad ◽

Michael Biek

Keyword(s):

Social Behavior ◽

Relationship Initiation

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Busting the Myth of the Non-Social Gamer: Comparing Friendship Quality Between Gamers and Non-Gamers

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931218621169 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 746-746

Author(s):

Tianxin Zhang ◽

Christina M. Frederick

Keyword(s):

Social Characteristics ◽

Social Connections ◽

General Measure ◽

Social Motives ◽

Face To Face ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Online Friendship ◽

Personal Qualities ◽

Video Gamers ◽

Use Of Social Media

Beyond the use of social media, people now often connect with people around the globe through online gaming. There are more than one billion people worldwide who play online games, and almost one-half of the population in the U.S are video gamers (Liu, Li, & Santhanam. 2013). There are still common stereotypes that gamers lack “real” friends and hide away from social activities as social isolates because the online world is not conducive to healthy social connections (Nie, 2001, Shen & Williams, 2010; Williams, 2006). However, there are also studies showing that online connections between gamers are healthy. Research with MMORPG players found that game play helped created strong online friendships, and social motives drove player participation (Griffiths et al., 2011). A German study showed that there was no significant difference between gamers and non-gamers in terms of how to socialize with other people online (Domahidi, Festl & Quandt, 2014). To gain a better understanding of gamers’ social characteristics, the present study examined friendships in online and offline domains in a gamer group and a non-gamer group. Ninety-two gamers and fifty-nine non-gamers completed the McGill Friendship Questionnaire (Mendelson & Aboud, 2014). for their closest online and offline friend, and a general measure of personal happiness using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Hills and Argyle, 2002). Within group comparison found that for gamers the online friendship was of significantly higher quality than the offline friendship. For non-gamers, the opposite results were found. Of particular importance and interest in this study was the finding that the closest online friendship for the gamer group was not significantly different on any friendship dimension than the closest offline friendship for the non-gamer group, and both groups also showed no difference in general life happiness. In essence, the closest face to face friendship non-gamers enjoy looks the same as the closest online friendship reported by gamers. The results support the conclusion that gamers do have close and important friendships with other people, and that these occur online rather than face to face. The explanation could be that for gamers, their comfort in the online environment allows them to meet and grow close to others within this milieu, even though they may never meet their closest friend face to face. For further study, it will be valuable to see how this finding varies by personal qualities, such as gender, age or loneliness level.

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Friendship Online

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198857815.013.11 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dean Cocking

Keyword(s):

The Internet ◽

Social Revolution ◽

Value Sensitive Design ◽

Face To Face ◽

Social Lives ◽

Online Friendship ◽

Moral Universe ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

The Rich ◽

Social Dependence

The online social revolution has seen the pursuit of friendship online become core business of the internet and part of the friendships and social lives of most of us. This chapter provides an overview of the burgeoning contemporary research concerning online friendship and of the main themes, since Aristotle, on the nature and value of friendship. It also aims to provide some substantial fresh research for future analyses. It argues that the pursuit of friendship relies heavily upon the rich, face-to-face dynamic of plural modes of self-expression and communication that we have engaged in for thousands of years. Our social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, flatline much of this territory, and as a result much of the moral universe that we have built upon it is lost or distorted online. The chapter concludes by suggesting that we need to better understand this social dependence of our values and valuing, both to improve the value-sensitive design of life online, and, where this social dependence cannot be well captured, to also improve our engagement in our traditional worlds and so help get us offline.

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Conceptualizing the supplier switching process: an example from public procurement

Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing ◽

10.1108/jbim-06-2021-0301 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Anne-Maria Holma ◽

Anu Bask ◽

Antti Laakso ◽

Dan Andersson

Keyword(s):

Process Development ◽

Public Procurement ◽

Process Models ◽

Switching Process ◽

Service Process ◽

Content Type ◽

Relationship Initiation ◽

Supplier Switching ◽

Private And Public ◽

The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to develop a framework for switching a service supplier in a supply network. Design/methodology/approach The study builds on existing literature in the field of purchasing and supply management, public procurement (PP) and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing approach, as well as on an illustrative example case, from the PP context, of a supplier switch in a service delivery process. Findings During a switching process, the buyer must simultaneously manage the ending of a relationship with the incumbent supplier and the beginning of a relationship with a new supplier. Collaboration with the focal suppliers to develop a service process with standardized components prevents disruptions in the service processes and reduces the impact of the switch on the wider network. Research limitations/implications The conceptualization suggested in this paper needs to be further explored in different empirical contexts to assess its practical adequacy. Practical implications Practitioners responsible for service procurement can use the findings to develop collaboration with suppliers, both when it comes to service process development and to the switching process. Furthermore, the authors highlight the importance of ending competencies and the development of an exit plan to conduct a “beautiful exit.” Originality/value The paper integrates relationship initiation and ending studies, as well as procurement process models to develop a refined switching process framework. Many PPs rely on short-term relationships due to the legal obligation to frequently invite suppliers to tender, thus understanding the supplier switching process is important both for private and public sector actors.

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