Psychological Effects of Marital Comparison on Social Media on Relationship Satisfaction, Image of Marriage, and Emotional Expectations
Keywords:
marital comparison, social media, relationship satisfaction, image of marriage, emotional expectations, qualitative research, couplesAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to explore married individuals’ lived experiences of marital comparison on social media and its psychological effects on relationship satisfaction, image of marriage, and emotional expectations.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. Participants were 22 married individuals living in Tehran, selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation in gender, age, length of marriage, and educational background. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. All interviews were audio-recorded with informed consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. To enhance trustworthiness, member checking, peer coding, analytic memoing, and an audit trail were employed. The interview protocol focused on participants’ exposure to marital content on social media, experiences of upward comparison, perceived changes in relationship satisfaction, reconstructed expectations of marriage, and emotional responses to idealized couple portrayals.
Findings: Data analysis yielded five main categories: “idealization of others’ marriages and upward comparison,” “reduced relationship satisfaction and increased salience of partner shortcomings,” “distortion of the mental image of marriage and emergence of performative standards,” “intensification of emotional expectations and comparison-based demands,” and “regulatory strategies and reconstruction of media boundaries.” Participants described that repeated exposure to romantic images, gifts, trips, ceremonies, and public displays of affection by other couples created feelings of relational inadequacy, doubt about the quality of their own marriage, comparison of the spouse with external models, and unrealistic emotional expectations.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that marital comparison on social media is not merely a cognitive act of comparison, but a multilayered psychological process that may reshape individuals’ evaluation of their relationship, their understanding of marriage, and their emotional expectations from the spouse. Strengthening couples’ media literacy, promoting open dialogue about social media effects, and establishing shared digital boundaries may reduce the negative consequences of this phenomenon.
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