Is Your Smart Phone Causing Trouble in Your Marriage?
I love watching television, and one of my favorite shows is Mad Men. I love the time the show is set in and the glamorous (and not so glamorous) lives of the characters. The differences in lives from that time period to now always piques my interest - the relationships seem like a lifetime away, but it really wasn't that long ago.
I can't imagine being in a marriage that resembles the time from that show - it seems so very one-sided. And it was! Men seemed to get away with only doing what they wanted, and us ladies were left to deal with it - especially when it came to marriage. The wives seemed to keep in contact with their husbands through their office secretaries, and it wasn't out of the ordinary for men to not come home for hours after work without even a phone call.
Things are much different now; we expect to be treated equally to men and devices like smart phones make it easier to stay in touch. While that may seem like a good thing at quick glance, new research says that maybe we're not really communicating when it comes to our relationships.
Related: 15 ways women are ruining their sex lives
Personally, I don't talk to my husband on the phone much. Back in the day (well, before smart phones), we would talk on the phone while he was at work and primarily communicated that way. Now, we text each other a few times in the day, and while that sounds like we communicate more now, it's not really communicating - it's more just day-to-day writing, like grocery lists or confirming what time we had to get the kids to their appointments.
A survey done by Meredith's Parents Network called "Millennial Moms & Media" found some interesting things when it came to how smart phones are used by Millennial Moms (mothers born between 1977-1994, who have children between the ages of a newborn to 12) in relationships today. In 2011, roughly 1,000 participants completed questionnaires between November 18 and December 14 answering questions to explore "moms' various media behaviors including preferences, consumption, and motivation."
Here are a few interesting statistics the survey reported:
- 30% text with their partner more than they talk
- 41% have sent racy photos of themselves
- 12% use their phone during sex
- 26% have connected with an old flame via social media
- 21% say their smart phone has improved their sex life
I know my relationship is different thanks to social media and smart phones, in both positive and negative ways. For me though, this age of Facebook, texting, and oversharing is still far better than the Mad Men era of one-sided relationships.
Photo source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
-By Devan McGuinness
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