Absence Of Gating In Virtual Relationships

Question 1

Gating in online relationships

Answer 1

In real life our attraction to others is greatly influenced by their appearance, mannerisms and factors such as age and ethnicity.

Being online removes these factors that act as barriers/gates to interaction. This creates more opportunities for less attractive or shy people to form relationships.

The absence of gating online also means that people can establish virtual identities they could never create face to face. For example shy people can become more outgoing.

Question 2

Strengths of absence of gaming in virtual relationships

Answer 2

• ) There are social benefits to the absence of gating in virtual relationships. A study showed that out of 4,000 participants 72% of those with internet connections were married while only 36% of those without the internet access were married. This suggests that a virtual environment makes it easier for people to seek company and gain romantic relationships.
• ) The absence of gating has a positive effect on peoples offline relationships, people create and online identity that is appreciated by others and thus enhances their overall self image and increases the quality of their face to face relationships as well.
• ) 207 male and female participants completed a questionnaire measuring shyness, internet use and perception of quality of their friendships. It was found that those who scored highly on shyness and internet use perceived their friendships as of high quality, this correlation was absent for people with low shyness scores. This implies that online communication helps people overcome their shyness improving the quality of their face to face relationships.

Question 3

Weaknesses of absence of gating in virtual relationships

Answer 3

• ) people are involved in both offline and online relationships every day so that means that there are fewer differences between virtual and face ti face relationships then reserved suggests. Research looking into virtual relationships often doesn’t take account the effect of these relationships on a persons offline interactions and vice versa
• ) Most kf the research looking at gating was conducted in the late 90s and early 2000s. As technology changes so to does the nature of online relationships so psychological research in this area risk being out of date lowering their temporal validity.