ON-LINE RELATIONAL MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES AND PERCEPTIONS OF PARTNERS WITHIN EXCLUSIVELY INTERNET-BASED AND PRIMARILY INTERNET-BASED RELATIONSHIPS

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the role of relational maintenance in on-line relationships, particularly on the types of relational maintenance strategies used, and perceptions of similarity, communication quality, and relational communication in relationships that are being maintained through the Internet. In addition, the study was interested in differences in perceptions of relational partners between people maintaining EIB and PIB relationships. This section explores some of the theoretical implications of the current study for the areas of relational maintenance and computer-mediated communication, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research.

The findings indicate that while many strategies were used to maintain on-line relationships in the study, openness and positivity were the most frequent (whether participants were in EIB or PIB relationships and controlling for type of relationship). While this finding is somewhat limited, it sheds some light on strategies that are perceived to be useful or important when maintaining a relationship on the Internet. Since most individuals on the Internet currently use email or chat applications when interacting with others, it could be that openness and positivity are more easily expressed in written form compared to other strategies (e.g. assurances), or they are perceived as more effective.

In addition, while avoidance strategies may help to preserve relationships in the face-to-face world, they may increase uncertainty in on-line relationships. Some joint on-line activities are possible, including playing on-line games, chatting together, etc., but these may not be perceived as helpful for maintaining relationships as actually "being together" in the face-to-face world. The relatively high number of individuals in PIB relationships using the "other" maintenance strategy category who mentioned that being in the same place as their partner or the ability to touch their partner suggests that some people find email or chatting to be somewhat limiting when maintaining a relationship. Future research would benefit by examining unique ways people maintain relationships on-line and by developing a relational maintenance typology specifically for on-line relationships.

Since people in EIB and PIB relationships did not differ significantly in terms of the type of on-line relational maintenance strategy they used, it is unknown whether people in each type of relationship have similar maintenance strategy preferences or if limitations of the computer make it easier to engage in some maintenance strategies over others. Future research on on-line maintenance would benefit from assessing the reasons why people prefer one type of on-line maintenance strategy to another. It would be also useful to assess cases in which on-line relational maintenance is preferred to face-to-face relational maintenance when people are engaged in PIB relationships. As O'Sullivan (2000) found, people may prefer on-line communication to face-to-face communication if it allows them certain advantages, such as more control over content and relational communication.