Partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction: Self-esteem and marital status as moderators

Abstract

The current study investigated the moderating effects of self-esteem and marital status on the association between partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction. Four hundred and twenty-nine Chinese adults completed the measures of partner phubbing, relationship satisfaction, self-esteem, and marital status. The findings revealed that partner phubbing was not significantly associated with relationship satisfaction. However, self-esteem moderated the association between partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction. More specifically, for high self-esteem adults, partner phubbing was significantly associated with relationship satisfaction. In contrast, for adults with low levels of self-esteem, this association became nonsignificant. The association between partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction was also moderated by marital status, which showed that the significant relation between partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction only existed among married adults.