Effects of Exposure to Happy Couple Photos on Facebook on Relationship Satisfaction and Mood: Analysis using the Solomon Four-group Design

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Facebook photos of happy couples on relationship satisfaction and mood among young Korean women in romantic relationships. To ensure ecological validity, we used a Solomon four-group design because users typically do not engage in a pretest while using Facebook. A total of 290 young Korean women aged 19–25 years were randomly assigned to one of four groups: two experimental groups (with or without a pretest) exposed to Facebook couple photos and two control groups (with or without a pretest) exposed to Facebook nature photos. The results indicate no significant group differences in relationship satisfaction. However, participants who viewed photos of happy couples reported more positive and less negative moods than those who viewed nature photos. The implications for practical guidelines on social media usage are also discussed.