Married and Previously Married Men and Women’s Perceptions of Communication on Facebook with the Opposite Sex: How Communicating Through Facebook Can Be Damaging to Marriages

Findings indicate a large variety of emotional and sexual content is exchanged by married men and married women with the opposite sex on Facebook, constituted as extramarital. Instigating spouses of these extramarital affairs are not cognizant of the total negative marital implications of their actions. Additionally, negative emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual implications are incurred to marriages, generally leading to separation, divorce, or both. These negative implications occur due to a lack of marital guidelines present for communicating with the opposite sex on Facebook. Finally, instigating spouses spiritually detached from their religious faith, whereas many victims became more devoted to their faith, and extended forgiveness to their unfaithful spouses due to the devotion to their faith.