A group of CIMCYC researchers, from the Social Psychology and Gender Laboratory (https://psygender-ugr.es/) and members of the Psychology of Social Problems group (HUM-289), have carried out an investigation with the purpose of examining some factors that could lead to the perpetration of cyber-violence in couples among the young population.
The main results indicated that people with high anxious attachment to a partner-characterized by a constant need for reciprocity, closeness and intimacy, as well as fear of abandonment-more frequently exert cyberabusive behaviors in their relationships. Such behaviors include cybercontrol behaviors, aimed at controlling and monitoring the partner through digital media (e.g., monitoring their whereabouts, accessing their personal accounts or checking their cell phone without their consent) and explicit manifestations of direct cyberaggression, with the intention to inflicting harm (e.g., insulting the partner, threatening or humiliating them through technologies). In addition, the findings provide a plausible explanation for the relationship between anxious attachment and the perpetration of cybercontrol in the partner. Specifically, the results indicated that people with anxious attachment perform a greater electronic monitoring of the partner in social networks, i.e., they tend to check their online activity for information (e.g., they pay attention to the partner's profile updates, see the photos he or she posts, or read the comments he or she receives from other users).
This habit in the online environment, rather than alleviating concerns about the relationship, seems to elicit high levels of romantic jealousy; that is, negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity that are experienced as a result of perceiving a threat, real or imagined, to the romantic relationship. For example, young people with anxious attachment to a partner may feel that their relationship is being threatened and, consequently, experience jealousy when their partner receives flattering comments from people of the opposite sex on their profiles or when they believe that their partner is flirting with people outside the relationship. These situations that develop on social networks seem to precipitate, in turn, cybercontrol behaviors towards the partner (but not direct cyberaggression). In this sense, the cybercontrol exercised by young people with anxious attachment could be considered a maladaptive coping strategy to manage insecurities about the status of the relationship, when they check their partners' activity on social networks and experience romantic jealousy.
In conclusion, according to these findings, anxious attachment to the partner is a risk factor that precipitates dysfunctional dynamics and cyber-violence in relationships, requiring, therefore, special attention in the understanding and intervention of cyber-violence in couples at early ages.
Reference:
Sánchez-Hernández, M. D., Herrera, M. C., & Expósito, F. (2023). Does the Digital Environment Evoke Anxiety Cycles in Romantic Relationships? The Roles of Social–Interpersonal and Individual Factors in Cyberdating Abuse Perpetration. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2204275
Contact:
M. Dolores Sánchez-Hernández (@email)
M. Carmen Herrera (@email)
Francisca Expósito (@email)