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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Relationship status: It's complicated

Relationship status: It's complicated

Science says smug Facebook couples could be hiding insecurities...

Happy couple


You’re probably all too familiar with those couples who are constantly bragging about their #soulmate or #bae on your newsfeed. Cue: eye roll.
But according to a new study, behind their oversharing posts could lie BIG insecurities about their relationship.
Research published in the Personality and Psychology Bulletin showed that people who have doubts about their relationship feel the need to post faux-happy statuses about their partner on FB to mask how insecure they’re really feeling.
Find out how the dos and dont's of a break-up on social media here.
“On a daily basis, when people felt more insecure about their partner’s feelings, they tended to make their relationships visible,” one of the researchers explained.
108 students participated in a three-week study which required them to keep a daily diary about their relationship for two weeks, and this experiment proved the hypothesis to be correct.
So why do some couples feel the need to validate their love on social media?
Sex and Relationship expert, Isiah McKimmie says it’s down to denial.
“Often there’s a little bit of denial going on, people always don’t want to look at the problems in own relationship because it’s so hard -  they’d rather pretend everything is going great so they don’t have to face up to what might be happening,” said McKimmie.
We’ve all been guilty of posting the odd loved-up snap on Facebook or Instagram, but how can you tell the difference between a genuinely happy couple versus those putting it on for show?
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“It can be hard to tell because people have different ways of expressing things, but if you know things aren’t matching up between how they are together and what you’re seeing on Facebook then that would be an indication,” Isiah explains.
While a friend of yours may post a photo on Facebook of a beautiful bunch of roses she received from her boyfriend, you might know that the reason he sent those roses in the first place was because of a huge falling out they had the night before.
So rather than resorting to soppy statuses, how can you inprove your relationship if you’re feeling insecure?
 “Honesty is the best policy for anything. Address your specific concerns with them and really listen to what they have to say. Find out where the relationship is at and what could happen to improve it,” Isiah explains.
Want to know the secret to a long-lasting relationship? Click here.
And for those who hastily judge those OTT in-your-face couples on Facebook, just remember you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.

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