For many of us, the use of web-based social media networks has nowadays become a part of everyday life. Facebook and Instagram are two of the networks with the highest number of users but, despite their popularity, their impact on the intimate aspects of our lives, more specifically on our intimate relationships, remains relatively unexplored. This thesis aims to determine how the use of web-based social media networks, namely Facebook and Instagram, affects jealousy in intimate relationships. I explored how the feelings of jealousy are impacted by situations where a partner expresses interest in another person, situations where another person expresses interest in a partner, situations where a partner is in contact with their past partners, and photos published by a partner. The results of the analysis showed that a partner’s interest in another person and a partner’s contact with their past partners had a statistically significant positive effect on jealousy. I also investigated whether the perceived degree of jealousy is influenced by the intensity of daily Facebook and Instagram use or demographic factors, such as gender, age and education. The latter turned out to have no statistically significant effect on jealousy. The results certainly show that the feelings of jealousy resulting from the use of web-based social media networks are influenced by the way web-based social media networks are used, and not by the demographic factors or the intensity of usage.
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