Absence of Gating

When you first meet a potential partner, there are a few things that you look at before considering the deeper aspects of a person. Physical appearance is probably the most prominent feature that people notice foremost. Whilst appearance may be the first feature people notice, other factors, such as communication cues and complementarity, may affect partner choice. What happens when the usual factors affecting partner choice are missing, however, such as in online Relationships? The absence of gating appears to affect relationships in surprising ways.

• We are going to explore the concept of gating and the absence of gating in virtual Relationships.
• First, we will highlight what we mean by the absence of gating in psychology.
• We examine self-disclosure in virtual relationships, discussing self-disclosure meaning and how this ties into gating.
• We will also explore virtual relationships in psychology and parasocial relationships in psychology in the context of the absence of gating.

Fig. 1 - Gating affects how much we disclose in relationships.

Absence of Gating: Psychology

The absence of gating refers to how self-disclosure tends to occur at higher rates in virtual relationships due to the lack of gates that would normally affect self-disclosure rates in face-to-face relationships. Gates include appearance and social skills, which can be masked or altered by virtual environments.

Self-Disclosure Meaning

Self-disclosure refers to the personal information we share with others, and it is normally affected by the level of intimacy shared between people.

Various theories explore how relationships and the types of relationships affect the degree of self-disclosure people engage in.

Virtual Relationships in Psychology

Virtual relationships in psychology refer to relationships occurring in a virtual environment, typically over computers and mobiles, for instance. With technological advancements pervading modern society, virtual relationships are more accessible than ever.

Dating sites allow people to meet people virtually before seeing them face-to-face. How can this affect the potential development of relationships?

People can also meet in other virtual communities, such as on gaming platforms. Long-distance relationships are more viable.

Examples of the Absence of Gating

How a person sounds, acts, and smells can be an important factor in deciding whether or not someone can be a suitable partner for a romantic relationship. As we mentioned above, these factors are called gates and often act as barriers to romantic relationships.

In online relationships, these barriers do not exist, creating an absence of gates. The absence of gates has interesting implications for how romantic relationships progress compared to face-to-face encounters.

Diane built a romantic relationship with him by revealing a lot about herself (self-disclosure). She told her friends, and eventually, they decided to meet. When they met, Diane found that Craig was not as attractive looking as she had hoped, and she did not like how he smelled either.

Before the physical meeting, Diane was not exposed to these gates. They were absent, so she could build a relationship with Craig.

Fig. 2 - There are multiple ways to form online relationships.

Absence of Gating: Research

Hill et al. (1976) found that 55% of those who met face to face were still together after two years, but only slightly more than half of the couples studied. Psychologists such as McKenna et al. (2002) believe that the absence of gates in online relationships leads to greater intimacy.

• They found that 71% of online relationships lasted more than two years, much more than their offline counterparts and a significant increase from the 55% Hill et al. (1976) suggested.

The ecological validity of the McKenna et al. (2002) study is quite high, but the data is based on self-report, so bias may occur (particularly social desirability bias).

However, we must remember that the absence of gates also means that people can create online personas that differ greatly from their true selves. In some cases, this can go as far as catfishing, but it could also be positive for socially anxious and shy people as they can get to know someone without the pressure of meeting in person.

Evaluation of Absence of Gating

To understand the impact gating has on relationships and how the absence of gates affects relationship development, we need to evaluate it. Let's explore this further.

Baker and Oswald (2010)

Baker and Oswald (2010) interviewed 241 participants about their social media use and shyness. The questionnaires assessed Facebook use, level of shyness, perceived social support, loneliness, and friendship quality.

They found a strong positive correlation between the level of shyness and Facebook use but no correlation between Facebook use and loneliness, suggesting that Facebook helps shy people overcome their shyness.

Subjective: Are Gates Absent?

These days, we share a lot on social media, from videos to selfies and more. This means we can potentially see people’s characteristics that may have only been ‘gates’ noticed in face-to-face conversations in the past, such as tone of voice and facial expressions.

However, this depends on how much a person shares. Thus, the lack of gates in online relationships is a subjective factor. When someone shares more, you can see the ‘gates’ that can hinder attraction online instead of in person. Therefore, gates may not be absent in online interactions.

Unclear Definition

The definition of gates is unclear, which is a drawback when studying their influence on online relationships. Communication is also an essential factor to consider with gates because some gates are rectifiable.

Many studies on gates describe characteristics that hinder initial attraction, such as appearance, voice, and Body Language. Therefore, the impact of gates on long-term relationships is unclear. Are gates limited to initial attraction, or might we encounter gates later in relationships?

Danger in the Absence of Gates

Although some see the impact of the absence of gates on self-revelation as positive, the absence of gates can also lead to deception. People may present an image/persona that is not truthful. This could be dangerous as people may fall prey to this deceptive behaviour, especially if the person brings about an intimate relationship for nefarious reasons (e.g., blackmail due to increased self-disclosure, violence, fraud, and more).

Parasocial Relationships: Psychology

Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships between people with one person who is unaware of the other, typically found in fans and celebrities. Fans know a lot about celebrities and seek to engage with celebrities in various forms. Celebrities, on the other hand, are unaware of the individual fan's existence.

Studies investigating parasocial relationships include:

• McCutcheon (2002)
• McCutcheon et al. (2002)

McCutcheon (2002) developed the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) to assess celebrity worship and later identified three levels of parasocial relationships.

Fig. 3 - Parasocial relationships are one-sided.