Social Media Addiction and Marital Adjustment: A Comparative Study among Male and Female Spouses

Abstract

Social media overuse, which mostly turns into addiction, has been linked with enormous relational tension because of emotional abandonment, decreased face-to-face communication, and increased jealousy. In this research, an attempt was made to comparatively analyze the level of marital adjustment of male and female spouses of social media addicts and to inquire about the gender-specific consequences of such addiction on marital happiness. A convenience sample of 120 participants (60 couples) aged 25-45 years from Jaipur was taken. Couples were split into two groups depending on the gender of the spouse who was identified as a social media addict. The Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) was used to measure levels of addiction, and the Marital Adjustment Questionnaire (MAQ) was used to measure marital satisfaction. Independent samples t-tests established statistically significant gender differences between marital adjustment. Particularly in Group A (female addicts), males indicated higher marital adjustment than females significantly (t = 4.01, p = 0.00001, Cohen's d = 1.03), and likewise in Group B (male addicts), males indicated greater marital adjustment than females (t = 2.90, p = 0.005, Cohen's d = 0.74), thereby substantiating the hypothesis. Results are consistent with previous work highlighting that women generally suffer more relational dissatisfaction and emotional distress because of their spouse's excessive social media use. Such findings highlight the need for gender-sensitive interventions to improve marital satisfaction and promote balanced social media use in marital settings.