Late night web 'love cheat' fears

Time of day web chats occur is a factor, the study found

Internet dating is a popular dating tool, but for those in relationships, their partners' late night web chats to strangers can be worrying.

Now researchers in the University of Glamorgan have been looking at the impact of "online infidelity".

They found that the more someone tells a stranger about themselves via a web chat, the more it appears they are having a virtual affair.

And late night chatting is also seen as a sign of cheating.

The research is being conducted by Dr Martin Graff from the university's psychology department along with research student Sarah Elliot.

Dr Graff said that online dating had boomed in recent years, with more than three million members on some of the bigger dating sites.

"Membership of online dating websites has boomed in recent years, possibly because people seem to have busier lives and less time for traditional and yet time consuming courtship rituals," he explained.

"However, hand-in-hand with the increased popularity of online dating would seem to be the capacity for people to engage in online relationship infidelity.

The greater the level of typed disclosure, then the stronger the perception of infidelity Dr Martin Graff

"In America the situation is becoming serious with lawyers reporting an increase in the prevalence of divorce due to online infidelity.

"In the States it is even possible to hire online private investigators to track the internet behaviour of a partner who one may suspect may be engaging in a virtual extra-relationship affair."

Dr Graff began the research to discover what constitutes online infidelity after studying internet behaviour.

Romance

A sample of 100 Welsh users of dating sites were questioned with the conclusion that the level of personal information released by the dater was the major indicator of their romantic intention.

Dr Graff explained: "In face-to-face encounters, the level and subject matter of self-disclosure differs for males and females and also differs according to whether we are talking with a person of the same or the opposite sex.

"In an online setting, where we are unable to pick up non-verbal cues in interactions, then the level of disclosure between people becomes far more important," he said.

And according to the study: "It seems that the greater the level of typed disclosure, then the stronger the perception of infidelity," he said.

"Furthermore, this study also showed that the time of day at which an online interaction takes place to be important".

Dr Graff said web chats later in the evening were seen as "more infidelitous" than those during the day or early evening.

The next stage of the research will focus on aspects of jealousy and trust in online relationships.