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ON-LINE RELATIONAL MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES AND PERCEPTIONS OF PARTNERS WITHIN EXCLUSIVELY INTERNET-BASED AND PRIMARILY INTERNET-BASED RELATIONSHIPS
Communication Studies, Summer 2004 by Wright, Kevin B
While relational maintenance has been found to be an important aspect of interpersonal relationships within the face-to-face world, the nature of relational maintenance among partners within computermediated relationships is a relatively unexplored area. This study examined the use of maintenance strategies and perceptions of relational partners among (N = 178) undergraduate students within exclusively Internet-based and primarily Internet-based relationships. The findings indicated that positivity and openness were the most frequently used maintenance strategies. People who used positivity and on-line activities had higher perceptions of attitude similarity than people using avoidance strategies, and people who used positivity and openness perceived their partner's quality of communication to be higher than those who used other strategies. People maintaining primarily Internet-based relationships had higher relational communication and background similarity scores than people maintaining exclusively Internet-based relationships. Finally, people maintaining exclusively Internet-based relationships had different perceptions of on-line friends and acquaintances based upon their frequency of on-line interaction.
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Relational maintenance is an important part of all relationships, and communication scholars have found it to be crucial to the survival of a relationship and for relational partners to be satisfied (Ayers, 1983; Bell, DaIy, & Gonzalez, 1987; Dindia & Canary, 1993; Vangelisti & Huston, 1994; Wood, 2000). In recent years, the advent of computer-mediated communication (CMC) has increased the opportunity for people to establish and maintain new relationships on-line as well as providing individuals with a new medium for maintaining relationships they originally formed in the face-to-face world (Barnes, 2003; Parks & Floyd, 1996).
Communication researchers have traditionally examined relational maintenance in face-to-face relationships (Ayres, 1983; Canary & Stafford, 1994; Dindia & Baxter, 1987; Dindia & Canary, 1993), and most research to date has not specifically addressed how people use computer-mediated communication to maintain relationships. As opposed to relational maintenance in the face-to-face world, there are two broad types of relationships that people maintain on the Internet, exclusively Internet-based relationships and primarily Internet-based relationships.
Exclusively Internet-based (EIB) relationships refer to relationships that are developed without any face-to-face interaction or interaction through traditional media, such as the telephone, letters, etc. EIB relationships are becoming more prevalent due to the growth and popularity of on-line communities where people who are geographically dispersed develop relationships and do not typically interact with each other outside of Cyberspace (Clark, 1995; Cohill & Kavanaugh, 1997; Preece & Ghozati, 2001; Rheingold, 1993, Turkle, 1995; Wellman, 1997). According to a large scale study of Internet use, 90 million Americans have participated in some type of on-line group or community, and that most participants reported that the Internet was a helpful way to meet new people as well as strengthening existing ties (Fox et al., 2001).
Primarily Internet-based (PIB) relationships are also becoming more common due to the fact that individuals who are geographically dispersed often prefer the low cost of email/instant messaging instead of using traditional communication technology (e.g. the telephone). However, there other reasons besides cost that have contributed to the increase in these types of relationships. For example, since email is asynchronous, people often enjoy the convenience of not having to communicate in real time (Flaherty, Pearce, & Rubin, 1998; Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000) and many report that email allows them to spend more time/control when composing messages (Walther & Boyd, 2002) or it helps them to have more control over impression management (O'Sullivan, 2000).
PIB relationships may include acquaintances, friends, and family members who find it more convenient to communicate via the Internet, or people who may have initially met on-line but who now communicate by other means. However, sometimes people, such as co-workers engage in primarily Internet-based relationships despite being in close proximity to each other. PIB relationships are more common that EIB relationships, but they are relatively understudied since most relational maintenance studies (as well as interpersonal research) has focused on face-to-face interaction.
While many studies have examined how relationships are initially formed on-line, and how various perceptions of on-line partners influence different aspects of relationships, such as their development, impression management, and relational norms (Baym, 2000; O'Sullivan, 2000; Preece, 1998; Walther, 1992; 1996; Walther & Burgoon, 1992; Walther & Boyd, 2002), little is known about the communicative strategies individuals use to maintain relationships in these contexts, how perceptions of relational partners are related to maintenance strategies, or differences in perceptions between people maintaining EIB and PIB relationships.
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