Home>News Center>Life
         
 

SMS text a popular way of ending romances
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-18 08:50

Breaking up is supposed to be hard to do, but young Australian couples have found an easy solution — send a text message and move on.

Research shows young romantics are increasingly using SMS text messages to manage, and even end their relationships.

Macquarie University researcher Natalie Robinson studied the texting habits of 100 young people aged 18-35 and found SMS messaging increased when relationships were beginning or going through a rocky period.

Robinson said couples, fearing rejection, wanted to avoid direct contact when their relationships were strained.

"People used text messages to show their negative feelings rather than talking face-to-face," she said. "This might be because text messages were less confrontational and more distant."

The clinical psychologist said she was surprised to find 15 percent of participants had dumped a partner via text messages.

Robinson said one of her friends had been ditched in a text message and found it an unpleasant experience.

"She was very angry because it was so impersonal and because they had been together for a couple of years," she said.

Overall, women were more likely to send texts telling their partner how they were feeling, while men were more comfortable with practical texts such as "I’ll pick up dinner on the way home."

Robinson said people often used texts to keep tabs on partners who were out socializing with friends, creating the potential for friction.

"The receiver of this message may interpret this in a number of ways, such as, 'my partner cares about me and just wants to know what I am doing' or alternatively, 'my partner is suspicious and doesn't trust me and wants to know what I am doing,'" she said.



Stallone sets stage for 'Rocky' comeback film
Blond Bond: Daniel Craig named next 007
Chinese beauty standard released
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Koizumi's shrine visit draws rage, protests

 

   
 

More flexible exchange rate system promised

 

   
 

Stage set for bigger space push

 

   
 

Bush to visit China in November

 

   
 

Taiwan farmers attend Beijing trade fair

 

   
 

WSJ: US global influence is waning

 

   
  Cops crack down on dark underside of nightlife
   
  SMS text a popular way of ending romances
   
  China's long-lived AIDS patient dies
   
  Contemporary literature master Ba Jin dies at 101
   
  Safe SARS hospital move promised to Beijing expats
   
  School stampede kills one, injures 64 in Xinjiang
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
China cracksdown on 'dirty' mobile messages
   
First SMS regulations coming out in China
   
Shanghai police to open SMS hot line
   
First-ever text message novels to be auctioned
   
Cellphone users send 217.7b SMS in 2004
   
Excessive SMSs bad: doctors
  Feature  
  Could China's richest be the tax cheaters?  
Advertisement