Psychology of online relationships and its understanding.

There is no doubt that we spend too much time on the Internet, which is why we are starting to develop an online relationship here. Some people deliberately go looking for love on dating sites or social networks. But not everyone understands what the psychology of online relationships really is. And this has both positive and negative sides. You will ask why? What are the differences between real feelings and in the virtual world? Let’s talk about this in more detail.

The Role of Perception in Online Relationships

Perception is the process of being aware of or understanding certain information based on what we see, hear, or feel. Unlike real meetings, where we are able to see and feel a partner well, everything is different on the Internet. We can only see photos of the person and their text messages. Yes, with the help of a webcam and a microphone, you can hear it, and the psychology of online relationships can help us understand a person. This alone will not replace real relationships and feelings.

What’s missing on the internet?

Obviously, most of our senses cannot be used in online relationships. Consequently, we are missing out on a lot of information about our partner. Various studies have been conducted to find out to what extent our communication is verbal (speech) or non-verbal (using facial expressions, gestures, intonation, glance, etc.). The percentage is very different, and it is not disputed that non-verbal communication is a very important aspect of the development of human relationships.

The main disadvantage of online relationships is the lack of non-verbal communication. Research shows that 93% of communication is through non-verbal means and only 7% is verbal communication. How effective can online relationships be with so many “tools” at our disposal?

Excessive idealization

The psychology of online relationships shows us that on the Internet we idealize a person too much and do not see his negative qualities. We notice only positive qualities and cannot fully appreciate it. The opposite of this is underestimation when we see only the bad. Although each person has both good and bad character traits. In the virtual world, we very often idealize people, because we see only the good side of our partner. In real life, everything is completely different. We are able to quickly find out how much a person’s actions correspond to his words, how he behaves, and what feelings he has towards us.

Perception and reality

Even in the real world, our perception is far from perfect. As we reflect on our online relationships and how “real” they are, we have to ask ourselves, how much can we trust limited information and who is really on the other side of the screen? Who are you on the Internet? Are you showing all aspects of your character or only a small part? Even if you are trying to be sincere, the person may simply not feel it. To try and answer most of the questions, let’s look at some more problems.

Disadvantages of online relationships

In the virtual world, we often do not make much effort to get to know a person better and be useful to him. For example, in a live meeting, we can see what our partner is going through or he may have other problems. In this case, we must show our human qualities and encourage him. People on the internet rarely do that. Why bother with someone when there are thousands of other people with whom you can form new relationships?

As discussed earlier, we are able to better express ourselves using gestures, eye contact, and touch. In the virtual world, we are limited in this. Using emoticons can, to some extent, help get our message across. Only they cannot replace a sincere smile or a warm hug. Many people are better at expressing their thoughts orally than through text.

The psychology of online relationships helps to understand that the various flaws that we have belong only to us and to no one else. If we take an honest look at ourselves, we will see that these problems are a reflection of ourselves. This means that the difficulties we have in Internet communications are an extremely good indicator of our own difficulties and worries.

Benefits

Online relationships have not only disadvantages, but also advantages. On various forums and dating sites, we have the opportunity to meet really interesting people. We can try different ways of communicating. Allow ourselves what we do not dare to do in a live conversation. If you lack confidence, stutter, or have other problems, it won’t be noticeable on the internet. Hence, it may slightly boost your confidence. Here we can be who we want and avoid roles that are imposed on us by the outside world. We have the ability to better express our thoughts and write more meaningful messages, which can also help us in the future, with live communication.

Conclusion

My goal is to help you develop an understanding of the psychological dangers that you can face online. And with this awareness, you will have a chance to prevent problems before they arise. Our behavior in the real world can be very different from our online behavior. Online there are many more opportunities to hide your flaws and show yourself only from your best side. But will this behavior benefit you? I think no.

Perhaps the psychology of online relationships will seem a little daunting to you. The main thing to remember is that you do not need to completely translate your communication and relationships into the virtual world. After a few days of communication, try to bring the person to a real meeting. There you will be able to get to know him better and, accordingly, make a decision in which direction with this person to move on.