Two blue ticks, double messages on one side of the screen, three dots that never materialise into anything; they can all be a sign of one thing: you’ve been ghosted.
Many of us have been victim to the ubiquitous dating trend and some of us might even be guilty of doing it (sorry). And now research has provided some interesting insight into why this habit might occur.
In news we didn’t expect, those who ghost might actually be people who need closure and relationship certainty. This is according to research which looked at ghosting behaviours, calling it ‘a type of romantic ostracism that has not received much research attention’.
In new research published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, U.S participants completed a shortened version of the Need for Closure Scale. This included questions such as ‘I don’t like situations that are uncertain’ and ‘I enjoy having a clear and structured mode of life’.
The respondents were asked to then rate their likelihood to display ghosting behaviours, such as abandoning a relationship after one date.
The results showed, ironically, that people who had a stronger need for closure were more likely to use ghosting measures.
The results surprised the lead author. Christina M. Leckfor told PsyPost: ‘Contrary to our prediction, we found that young adults who had a high need for closure were actually more likely to intend to use ghosting to end a relationship than those with a low need for closure’.
This might be because the person who has a need for closure and who ends up ghosting does not see any ambiguity in the end of their relationship – the act of ghosting feels definitive.
‘It seems that although ghosting can leave the relationship in an ambiguous state for the person being ghosted, the person who uses ghosting may see that as a distinct end to the relationship.’
Interestingly, those with a high need for closure also feel things more deeply than their counterparts.
Leckfor added: ‘Although we expected young adults with a high need for closure to hurt worse after being ghosted compared to people with a low need for closure, we were surprised to find that they also hurt worse after being directly rejected, but when they were acknowledged by their partner, they actually felt better.
‘This suggests to us that having a high need for closure may magnify both negative and positive relationship experiences.’
The research also looked at platonic ghosting and found that people rated friendship ghosting just as significantly as romantic ghosting.
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