Amor, qualidade conjugal e infidelidade em relacionamentos amorosos mediados e não mediados pela internet

Abstract

Technological advances makes the Internet a powerful tool, capable of overcoming great distances to enable communication between people from different locations in real time. With that, there was also a growth of users in social networs, social networking sites and chat rooms. These tools have led these people located in different geographic regions to know each other and develop different types of relationships, including loving ones. Recognizing that the current data show the increasing rate of loving relationships tha develop exclusively on the internet, this paper aims to compare the loving relationships mediated by the Internet with loving relationships that are not mediate by the Internet, with regard to love, marital quality and conception of infidelity. This research, with a quantitative design was conducted with 86 Internet users that were divided into two groups (43 in loving relationships mediated by the Internet and 43 in loving relationships unmediated by the Internet). The thesis document is composed of three articles. In the first one, is exposed a discriminant profile between loving relationships mediated and unmediated by the Internet. On the second, is presented the comparison of the groups with regard to marital quality and the three components of love: intimacy, passion and decision/commitment. Finally, in the third article, we present the concepts of Internet users os issues to infidelity. The results show that there are significant differences between the groups, indicating better marital quality, commitment, passion and intimacy in presencial loving relationships. Besides indicating longer access on social networks, chats and other leisure activities, the romantic relationship mediated by the Internet also showed higher rates of infidelity and marital problems. In this sense, it is suggested that the Internet is a way to meet people and start relationship, although the relationship to develop within more intimacy, passion, decision/commitment and marital quality is recommended that occur in presencial context.