lesson 10 - absence of gating in virtual relationships

Question 1

explain gating in virtual relationships

Answer 1

Virtual relationships are not affected by some of the usual barriers (gates) that
constrain relationship formation in real-life encounters. Factors such as
distance, lack of physical attractiveness, social awkwardness are not as
important online. This creates more opportunities for shy or less attractive
people to develop romantic relationships.
The absence of gating online also means that people can establish virtual
identities they could never create face-to-face. For example, a shy person can
become more outgoing.

Question 2

strengths of gating in virtual relationships

Answer 2

There are social benefits to the absence of gating in virtual relationships.
For example, the absence of gating could reduce loneliness due by making it
easier for some people to access to social interactions and to seek out company.
Rosenfeld and Thomas (2012) showed the importance of online communication
for developing romantic relationships. Out of 4,000 participants studied, 72%
of those with internet access were married or had a romantic partner,
compared to only 36% of those without internet access. These findings suggest
that a virtual environment helps people to establish and maintain romantic
relationships.
Zahoa et al. (2008) claim that the absence of gating has positive effects on
people’s offline relationships. People create an online identity that is
appreciated by others, and this enhances their overall self-image and increases
the quality of their face-to-face relationships as well.
+ Baker and Oswald (2010) suggest that the absence of gating in virtual
relationships may be particularly useful for shy people. They asked 207 male
and female participants to complete a questionnaire, scoring their answers in
terms of shyness, internet use and perception of quality of their friendships.
They found that those people who scored highly on shyness and internet use,
perceived the quality of their friendships as high. The findings imply that as
online communication helps people to overcome their shyness, so the quality of
their face-to-face communication also improves.

Question 3

weakness of gating in virtual relationships

Answer 3

People are involved in both online and offline relationships every day; it’s not
an either/or situation. This means that there are fewer differences between
virtual relationships and face to face relationships than research seems to
suggest, and research examining virtual relationships often fails to take into
account the effect of these relationships on a person’s offline interactions, and
vice versa.
- Most of the research examining gating was conducted in the late 1990s and
early 2000s. As technology is changing rapidly, so is the nature of online
relationships; therefore, psychological research in this area risks becoming
outdated by the time it is published. This lowers the temporal validity of
research into virtual relationships.