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Exploring Facebook: Attachment Style and Nonverbal Message Characteristics as Predictors of Anticipated Emotional Reactions to Facebook Postings

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Abstract

The present study investigates people’s perceived likelihood of experiencing negative emotion in response to a potentially jealousy-inducing Facebook wall post that was ostensibly sent by a rival. Facebook messages were varied so that participants (n = 821) viewed a message containing text only or text plus either an attractive or unattractive photo of the sender, a winking face emoticon, words in all capitals, or triple exclamation points. Participants were then asked to indicate the degree of negative emotion they would feel if they saw this message on their romantic partner’s Facebook wall. The addition of wink-face emoticons and physical attractiveness cues in a Facebook wall post contributed to differences in likely experienced emotion. Participants also reported a greater likelihood of experiencing negative emotion if they were high in preoccupied attachment and low in dismissive attachment. Finally, women reported being more likely to experience negative interpersonal affect in response to the Facebook post than did men. Implications for the role nonverbal cues play in computer-mediated contexts, such as Facebook, are discussed.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University, Stauffer Hall, Building A, Room 412, P.O. Box 871205, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Christina Fleuriet, Megan Cole & Laura K. Guerrero

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  1. Christina Fleuriet
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  2. Megan Cole
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  3. Laura K. Guerrero
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Correspondence to Christina Fleuriet.

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Fleuriet, C., Cole, M. & Guerrero, L.K. Exploring Facebook: Attachment Style and Nonverbal Message Characteristics as Predictors of Anticipated Emotional Reactions to Facebook Postings. J Nonverbal Behav 38, 429–450 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-014-0189-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-014-0189-x

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