Texting may Create Miscommunications in Relationships

A recent study shows that the amount of time you spend on the phone texting your significant other can often cause serious miscommunications that may later cause relationship problems.

According to researchers from Brigham Young University, lead study authors Lori Schade and Jonathan Sandberg studied 276 young adults around the country to find that they were constantly connected via social media. However, this technology often caused disconnects in committed relationships, according to background information from the study.

Take a look at some of the findings, courtesy of a press release:

• For women: Using text messages to apologize, work out differences or make decisions is associated with lower relationship quality
• For men: Too frequent texting is associated with lower relationship quality
• For all: Expressing affection via text enhances the relationship

"Technology is more important to relationship formation than it was previously," said Schade, who earned her Ph.D. from BYU in August, via the release. "The way couples text is having an effect on the relationship as well."

The study looked at participants who were all seeing someone, with 38 percent that said they were in a serious relationship; 46 percent were engaged and 16 percent were married. Each participant was asked to complete an extensive relationship assessment that included questions about their use of technology in the relationship.

Findings showed that 82 percent of them traded text messages with their partner multiple times a day. While this was good to show sentiment to a boyfriend or girlfriend, discussing more serious problems via text messages could also complicate issues.

"Reaction to disappointment and reality testing occurs more quickly face to face," Sandberg said, via the release. "There is a narrowness with texting and you don't get to see the breadth of a person that you need to see."

The study also found that men's satisfaction in the relationship is lower when they receive too many text messages.

"We're wondering if this means men disconnect and replace in-person conversations with more texting," Schade said. "Maybe as they exit the relationship, they text more frequently because that's a safer form of communication. We don't know why, that is just a conjecture."

Fortunately, expressing something sweet via a text messages has a positive effect on both male and female partners.

Do you communicate via texts with your partner often? Share in the comments below.

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy.