Social media addiction in romantic relationships: Does user's age influence vulnerability to social media infidelity?

Compulsive social media use has repercussions on the users' social, psychological, professional, and personal lives. The availability of online romantic alternatives disguised as 'friends' provide a ripe environment that can facilitate an emotional and/or sexual affair. Online interactions with virtual friends consume users' attention and distract them from spending time with their significant other, which leads to adverse relationship outcomes. In this study, we examined the relationship between social media addiction and infidelity related behaviors in a sample of 365 partners (242 females, 123 males). We also explored if age influences this connection. The findings suggest that SNSs addiction predicts SNSs infidelity related behaviors and age moderates this relationship. The study also finds that a age is negatively related with SNSs addiction and SNSs related infidelity. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.