The Development of Online and Offline Romantic Relationships: A Turning Point Study by Sophia W. McDowell
The first two research questions focused on developing and comparing typologies of turning points for the online and offline samples. Four hundred and fifty-four turning points were identified by the online group and 452 by the offline group, resulting in a total of 906 turning points. Two new categories were added to the 14 supra-categories derived inductively by Baxter and Bullis (1986) to account for additional reported types of events, to make a total of 16 turning point types. A comparison of frequency and percentage distributions between the online and offline groups is reported in Table 1. A rank-difference correlation (Spearman-Rho) was done to compare the rankings for both groups and it was found that the they were significantly correlated (r = .52, p <.05). An additional test of correlation was calculated to compare the turning points of online participants who had previous offline romantic experience with those who had not. The turning point frequency rankings for the two sub -groups were found to be highly correlated (r = .80, p <.001). Because of the strong correlation between the turning point frequencies of the online group with previous FtF experience and the group without, it was determined unnecessary to explore any further differences between these sub -groups. Table 2 shows the turning point frequencies and percentage distributions for both online sub-groups.
The supra-type Get-To-Know Time was mentioned most frequently by respondents in both online and offline groups (see Table 1). This finding replicates those in Baxter and Bullis’ (1986) and Bullis et al.’s (1993) studies. This category encompassed occurrences that facilitate getting to know one another better, such as first dates, and spending time together enacting various activities (e.g., sports, recreation, studying). To account for the data in this study, an additional sub-group of turning points, labeled "intense conversations," was also attributed to this category because it was found that many couples spent time getting to know each other by simply talking with each other (either FtF or on the telephone), rather than doing particu lar activities. Intense conversations included events such as "we stayed up all night and talked about our childhoods" or "we discussed the things that are important to us."
The second most common turning point type mentioned by both groups was Passion. This referred to events that involved any sort of physical or emotional expression of affection between partners. Included within this category were first sex, first kiss, first admissions of love or "feelings for one another," and love-at-first-sight experiences. In addition to these events described by Baxter and Bullis (1986), events centered around "flirting" were also considered here as belonging in this category.
The supra-type Quality Time comprised of special events for the couple to appreciate one another and their relationship. Most frequently, this category included getting away from the day to day (vacations together), meeting the parents and/or other family members, seeing where the other grew up, relationship anniversaries, and special holidays (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s).
Serious Commitment was the next most commonly mentioned category for both groups after Quality Time. Such serious commitment events included making marital plans (talking about getting married, getting engaged) and moving in together. It was found that a significant number of participants mentioned moving to live closer to one another. While this was different from moving into the same household together, these events were still included in the Serious Commitment category because this sort of life-change was considered to require significant commitment to the relationship, especially as many participants mentioned moving from a significant distance away to be in the same city or country as the relational partner. For example, one participant wrote about a move from Alabama to Arizona, and another talked about her imminent move from New Zealand to be with her significant other in England.
The category Relational Problems is very similar to that named "Disengagement" in Baxter and Bullis (1986) and Bullis et al. (1993). It encompassed fights, conflicts, disagreements, and other relational problems such as let-downs and betrayal (though exclusive of external competition). The title for this category was changed because the word "disengagement" and the description of "any de-escalation in relationship" did not seem to adequately describe many of the relational problems that were mentioned. For example, many participants wrote about fights that were perhaps bitter and heated but yet resulted in a rise rather than de-escalation in commitment. Some explained that though they were emotionally hurt by such conflicts, they believed that the conflicts demonstrated the couple’s determination to work through problems rather than to ignore them, thus their commitment to the relationship rose after the event. This category’s title was also changed to better accommodate mentions about stressful events that were painful, but resulted in an increase in commitment, such as having a miscarriage or making the decision to have an abortion.
Of the relationships that went through relational problems that led to a complete dissolution or break-up, a proportion was restored. The category Making Up encompassed such occurrences when partners got back together.
Exclusivity was the category of turning points encompassing making a joint decision to engage solely in the current romantic relationship and the breaking of romantic involvement with all others except the current partner. Also included in this group were events surrounding the process of becoming an "official" couple (either a decision made by the partners or being recognized by others as being officially a couple). The frequency of turning points in this category was significantly different for online and offline groups, with the offline partners (f = 33) mentioning this category more often than the online partners (f = 13) (c 2 = 8.70, df = 1, p < .01).
The category Physical Separation/Losing Contact involved separations due to vacations, school breaks, and overseas trips, rather than separations due to break-up of relationship. Also added into this category was loss of contact, usually due to inability to access communication lines (e.g. no Internet access). Related to this category was Reunion/Reestablishment of Contact. This concerned events when partners were reunited after physical separation or when communication was reestablished.
External Competition referred to the arrival of a new rival (a third person) who is reported as competing for the affection of one of the partners, the return of an ex-significant other, or the interference of competing non-romantic demands such as work, school, friends, or children.
Ranked tenth for both groups was the category Sacrifice. This involved crisis help or support—assistance by either partners when the other was experiencing a personal problem—as well as the giving of favors or gifts by either partner.
Categories Positive Psychic Change and Negative Psychic Change both refer to intra-psychic fluctuations in a person’s attitude or feeling toward the relationship that were not reportedly triggered by any external event.
Two new categories were added to take into account events that were often mentioned, particularly by online romantic partners. Significant Shifts in Media/Exchange of Personal Information referred to the expansion of communication to new types of media (e.g., first phone call, started exchanging emails, exchanged photos), as well as the exchange of personal information (e.g., exchanging phone numbers or email addresses, revelation of real age). This category was mentioned significantly moreoften by the online (f = 37) group than the offline group (f = 3) (c 2 = 28.90, df = 1, p < .001). Also added was the category First Face-to-Face Meeting, which included both planning for the first meeting, as well as meeting for the first time. This category was mentioned significantly more often by the online (f = 59) than the offline group (f = 1) as well (c 2 = 56.07, df = 1, p < .0001).