| Consistently, attention to romantic alternatives has been linked to levels of commitment among couples. With the advent of Internet dating, it seems necessary to extend current theories of commitment into the realm of online relationships. More specifically, it may be important to detect any differences between Internet daters and traditional daters on levels of commitment, and, more importantly, on attention to romantic alternatives. Recent research has revealed a negative correlation between commitment and attention to romantic alternatives.;It is hypothesized that the increased salience and viability of romantic alternatives online will inhibit levels of commitment among Internet daters as compared to traditional daters. Differences in attention to alternatives were studied in two groups of individuals based on one subject variable (Traditional dating versus history of Internet dating). Participants received a number of paper-and-pencil measures tapping relationship constructs, attention to alternatives, and certain personality constructs.;A 2 X 2 X 3 MANOVA was conducted to determine significant differences between groups and gender on Attention to Alternatives, Commitment, and Quality of Alternatives. A MANOVA was conducted between groups in order to detect differences on facets of the NEO PI-R.;Although there were no significant differences between the groups on levels of commitment, the results indicated that Traditional daters were happier and better adjusted in their relationships and reported higher quality romantic alternatives than those with a history of Internet dating, whereas those with a history of Internet dating reported paying more attention to romantic alternatives. Also, the group of Internet daters scored significantly higher on levels of Neuroticism on the NEO PI-R than the Traditional group. |
