Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Two hundred and twenty-six college students accumulated personal email messages over a one-week period, and the content of those messages was analyzed. The results of this study illustrated that openness and positivity were the most commonly enacted maintenance behaviors over email. In addition, long-distance and geographically close family, friends, and romantic partners differed in the maintenance behaviors exhibited in their email correspondence. This study expands the literature in 3 ways: 1) it expands work on relational maintenance beyond face-to-face contact by examining how email is utilized to enact maintenance behaviors; 2) it examines relationships that originated off-line, comparing email use in long distance and geographically close family, friendships, and romantic relationships; and 3) it examines actual naturally occurring email content in interpersonal relationships rather than relying on self-report.