MySpace, Romance and Emotional Intelligence

Higher emotional intelligence discourages using MySpace for romance. Low self esteem encourages young adults in using MySpace for romance.

Romance being in this study: Romantic communication is conceptualized as looking for dates and building intimate relationships

MySpace users can create a homepage that includes favorite pictures, music, television shows, and books. MySpace has more than 100 million members, mostly teens and young adults. MySpace is a large online socialization network.

The sample under study consisted of 240 under graduate students who were a member of MySpace. The average age was 20, 81 were juniors, 76 were seniors, and the rest were freshmen and sophomores.

Several scales were used to measure self-esteem and emotional intelligence.

A Likert scale was used to measure romantic communication with seven statements, including “Most of my conversations on MySpace are intimate,” “I use MySpace to look for a romantic partner,” and “I would date someone I met on MySpace.”

Emotional intelligence (EI) is an individual’s ability to understand and regulate his or her emotional responses both internally and in others. Self-esteem is an individual’s perception of himself or herself.

Limitations
This study focused only on looking for intimate partners and building intimate relationships. The sample size was small and consisted of American sholars, this limits the generalizability.

Related posts on this blog:
Patient Doctor Relationship and emotional intelligence
Emotional Intelligence and Medical Education

Qingwen Dong, Mark A. Urista, Duane Gundrum (2008). The Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Self-Esteem, and Self-Image on Romantic Communication over MySpace CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11 (5), 577-578 DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0154