A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology explored the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in romantic relationships, social media addiction, and phubbing (the act of prioritizing a smartphone over face-to-face communication). Researchers found that when basic psychological needs in romantic relationships—such as love, freedom, and power—are unmet, individuals may turn to social media or engage in phubbing behaviors. These behaviors, in turn, negatively affect relationship satisfaction, creating a cyclical pattern that undermines intimacy and communication.
Relationships play a vital role in fulfilling basic human needs such as emotional connection, autonomy, and security. Building on theories like Glasser’s Choice Theory, which emphasizes the importance of meeting these needs for mental well-being, researchers sought to understand how deficiencies in these areas might manifest in behaviors like social media addiction and phubbing. With the growing prevalence of smartphones and social media, the study aimed to uncover the mechanisms through which unmet needs in romantic relationships contribute to these behaviors and their subsequent impact on relationship satisfaction.
“Social media addiction has recently become increasingly prevalent among young adults,” said study author Hüseyin Buğra Karaman of Necmettin Erbakan University. “Glasser’s view of negative addictions suggests that individuals may develop negative addictions or ineffective mental health behaviors when basic needs are not satisfied. For this reason, in this study, while examining the effect of the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in young adults’ romantic relationships on their relationship satisfaction, we wanted to examine the role of social media addiction and phubbing in this relationship.”
The study involved 958 undergraduate students from various universities in Türkiye, aged 17 to 29, who were either in a relationship or had been in one previously. The participants completed several validated scales designed to measure the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in relationships, their levels of social media addiction, their phubbing behaviors, and their overall relationship satisfaction.
The findings indicated that participants who reported lower satisfaction of basic psychological needs in their relationships were more likely to engage in phubbing and exhibit signs of social media addiction. For example, unmet needs for love and belonging, freedom, and power were associated with increased phubbing behaviors. However, the need for fun did not show the same association.
Phubbing itself was strongly related to social media addiction, suggesting that individuals who frequently diverted their attention to smartphones during interactions were also more likely to experience problematic social media use.
In addition to these patterns, the study found that social media addiction and phubbing were both linked to lower levels of relationship satisfaction. This suggests that behaviors associated with smartphone use may coincide with negative perceptions of relationship quality. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that phubbing acted as a mediator, connecting unmet needs with social media addiction. Similarly, social media addiction mediated the relationship between phubbing and lower relationship satisfaction, underscoring its potential role in amplifying relational challenges.
“The individuals we are in romantic relationships with contribute to the satisfaction of our basic psychological needs,” Karaman told PsyPost. “When this satisfaction is not achieved, negative addictions such as social media addiction or behaviors such as phubbing may occur. This can negatively affect the satisfaction we get from that relationship.”
However, the sample consisted predominantly of young adults, limiting the generalizability of the findings to older age groups or different cultural contexts. Additionally, the cross-sectional design prevents definitive conclusions about causation, as it only captures relationships between variables at a single point in time. Future research could explore longitudinal designs to better understand the temporal relationships between unmet needs, phubbing, and relationship satisfaction.
Further studies might also investigate how specific types of social media use contribute to relationship challenges and whether interventions aimed at improving communication and need satisfaction could mitigate these effects. Expanding the scope to include other age groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, and cultural settings would provide a more comprehensive understanding of these dynamics.
The study, “The mediating role of social media addiction and phubbing in basic psychological needs in relationships and relationship satisfaction,” was authored by Hüseyin Buğra Karaman and Coşkun Arslan.
