The effects of dating site advertisements on the quantity of other partners and the commitment to a love relationship.
Summary
Although love relationships have hopeful prospects for health and life satisfaction, the number of divorces and singles is still increasing (to 3.4 million singles in the Netherlands in 2030). Therefore, it is important to investigate possible factors that may explain the commitment to a relationship. In this study a model was used explaining commitment namely the revised version of the Investment Model (IVM). The additive construct in this model is quantity of other partners, because it seems likely that this construct also influences commitment due to the growing number of dating sites advertisements. In previous research the influence of dating site advertisements on quantity of other partners and commitment was not found. The current study had the aim of finding this association, making a few methodical changes. The first aim of the current study entails the investigation of the influence of movies about dating sites on the quantity of other partners. The second aim of the study is to investigate the influence of the quantity of other partners on commitment and the constructs that have an effect on the commitment to a relationship. Participants (N=62), involved in a romantic relationship, were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (negative / positive movie about dating sites and control condition) and completed a response latency task about commitment and relationship satisfaction (IVM) and questionnaires concerning the revised version of the IVM scale, the BCSS (self-esteem and esteem about other persons), the MMIS (media influence), and exposure to dating sites. Results showed that quality and quantity of other partners did not have influence on commitment. Also, the manipulation movies did not have an effect on the quantity of other partners. However, surprisingly all movies made the participants feel less satisfied about their relationship. Further research should include difference in age of the participants, divers relationship satisfaction levels, a change in the hierarchy of the displayed tests, other implicit measures, education level and the control variables esteem and sort of love relationship.