Number of Interests on Facebook Profile Could Give a Hint Towards Past Romantic Relationships

A person’s past romantic relationships can be found out through the number of interests listed in his or her Facebook profile, a new study reveals. WIU Department of Communication Assistant Professor Christopher Carpenter, with his co-author Erin Spottswood (Cornell University), have authored, 'Exploring romantic relationships on social networking sites using the self-expansion model.'

"I predicted this relationship because other research suggested that part of romantic relationship development involves adopting new interests and behaviors from one's partner," Carpenter said.

"I also found that people who report appearing in more photos with their partners on Facebook and who regularly tag their partner in their status updates tend to have closer romantic relationships," he said.

Carpenter said the study's sample included 276 respondents who answered questions about their relationship histories and social networking sites uses, while a subset of the sample (149 participants) answered additional questions about their current romantic partners.

The study is set to be published in July 2013 journal issue of Computers in Human Behavior.

Source-ANI