Exploring individuals’ descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting

Abstract

In this project, we explored descriptive and injunctive norms of ghosting and whether norms differed based on prior experiences with ghosting in romantic relationships. Ghosting is the act of unilaterally ceasing communication with a partner to dissolve a relationship. Perceived norms contribute to intentions and behaviors, but scholars have not previously investigated individuals’ perceived norms of ghosting (i.e., how common they think it is, how they think others react to ghosting). Adults (N = 863) on Prolific, residing in the United States, completed an online survey assessing their knowledge of, experience with, and perceived norms about ghosting in romantic relationships. A portion of these analyses were pre-registered on Open Science Framework. Descriptive norms regarding adults in general (i.e., societal-level) and their friends (i.e., personal-level) differed based on participants’ prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Some injunctive norms at both the societal- and personal-levels also differed based on prior experience with ghosting in romantic relationships. Participants with prior ghosting experience thought ghosting of romantic partners was more common than those with no prior experience. Regardless of prior ghosting experience, participants tended to believe that individuals felt embarrassed/inadequate after being ghosted by a romantic partner. These analyses provide understanding about descriptive and injunctive norms regarding ghosting in romantic relationships and may be helpful to dating app developers in how they frame messaging about ghosting.

Keywords

• descriptive norms
• ghosting
• injunctive norms
• norms
• relationship dissolution