Media Dependence and Relational Maintenance in Interpersonal Relationships

This study explored the relationships between dependence on video games and television and relational maintenance strategy use. One hundred and sixty-three male and female undergraduate students completed self-report measures of media dependence and relational maintenance. Results indicate that higher levels of media dependence predicted lower use of all the maintenance strategies, with video game dependence being a stronger predictor than television dependence. The results are discussed in terms of the roles that exposure to antisocial content and media involvement play in explaining the relationship between media dependence and relatiosal maintenance.