Long Distance Relationship: Is It Satisfactory?

Authors

  • Nur Diah Pratiwi Wibowo Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Sleman, Indonesia
  • Farida Harahap Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Sleman, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15575/jpib.v8i2.39984

Keywords:

Long distance relationship (LDR), Relationship satisfaction, Early Adult Woman

Abstract

Long-distance relationships (LDRs) are often viewed as challenging in maintaining the quality of romantic relationships, especially among early adult women who are in the phase of seeking emotional stability and long-term commitment. This study aims to explore relationship satisfaction among early adult women engaged in long-distance relationships. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach with purposive sampling, involving four women aged 25–30 years who had been in LDRs for more than one year. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and nonverbal observations, then analyzed using data reduction and thematic coding techniques. The results show that although participants faced limited face-to-face interaction and risks of miscommunication, relationship satisfaction was maintained through effective communication, trust, and commitment. Supporting factors included problem-solving ability, partner attentiveness, and emotional understanding. Communication technology played an important role in maintaining emotional closeness. Participants viewed LDRs as a stage toward more serious, marriage-oriented relationships.

References

Referensi

Adamczyk, K., & Segrin, C. (2015). Perceived social support and mental health among single vs. partnered Polish young adults. Current Psychology, 34(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9242-5

Agustini, R., & Zulkaida, A. (2022). Kepuasan dalam hubungan berpacaran pada dewasa awal: Apakah tipe kepribadian penting? Arjwa: Jurnal Psikologi, 1(3), 149–155. https://doi.org/10.35760/arjwa.2022.v1i3.7307

Alyssa P. Kopecki, B. S. (2020). Long distance versus geographically close romantic relationships: Comparing satisfaction, costs, and benefits. Texas State University. 1(1) http://190.119.145.154/handle/20.500.12773/11756

Amelia, F. R. (2020). Long-Distance Romantic Relationships among International Students: “My First Qualitative Research.†Studies in Philosophy of Science and Education, 1(1), 74–86. https://doi.org/10.46627/sipose.v1i2.28

Angela, E., & Hadiwirawan, O. (2022). Keyakinan Cinta Mengatasi Rintangan Dan Ideal: Kaitan Dengan Cinta Dan Harapan pada Hubungan Romantis di Dewasa Awal. Seurune : Jurnal Psikologi Unsyiah, 5(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.24815/s- jpu.v5i1.24644

Aryani, R. (2016). Hubungan komponen cinta dengan kepuasan berpacaran pada dewasa awal. Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Universitas Surabaya, 5(1), 1–10.

Billedo, C. J., Kerkhof, P., & Finkenauer, C. (2020). Social network sites, friendship network, and romantic relationships: A study among emerging adults. Social Psychology, 51(4), 203-218. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000411

Chrisnatalia, M., & Ramadhan, F. A. E. (2022). Kepuasan hubungan romantis pada wanita dewasa awal yang menjalin hubungan pacaran jarak jauh (studi deskriptif). Jurnal Psikologi: Media Ilmiah Psikologi, 20(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.47007/jpsi.v20i2.266

Dahl, D., Låftman, S. B., Bergström, M., Fransson, E., Galanti, M. R., Lindfors, P., & Almquist, Y. B. (2020). Parental separation and child well-being in Sweden: Evidence from a long-term population-based cohort study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 3945. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113945

Dainton, M., & Aylor, B. (2022). Patterns of communication channel use in the maintenance of long-distance relationships. Communication Research, 49(3), 333-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650220982612

Dargie, E., Blair, K. L., Goldfinger, C., & Pukall, C. F. (2015). Go long! Predictors of positive relationship outcomes in long-distance dating relationships. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 41(2), 181-202. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2013.864367

Du Bois, S. N., Sher, T. G., Grotkowski, K., Aizenman, T., Sles, V., & Keary, M. (2022). Going the distance: Health and relationship quality of long distance dating relationships. Family Relations, 71(1), 247-264. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12561

Firmin, M. W., Firmin, R. L., & Lorenzen, K. (2020). A phenomenological analysis of longevity in long-distance relationships. Marriage & Family Review, 56(8), 806-832. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2020.1737620

Funder, D. C., & Ozer, D. J. (2019). Evaluating effect size in psychological research: Sense and nonsense. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 2(2), 156–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919847202

Hampton, A. J., Rawlings, J., Treger, S., & Sprecher, S. (2021). Twenty years of online dating: Current psychology and future prospects. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(8), e12639. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12639

Havighurst, R. J. (1961). Developmental Tasks and Education (2nd ed.). New York: Longman. Harasymchuk, C., Walker, D. L., Muise, A., & Impett, E. A. (2021). Planning date nights that promote closeness: The roles of relationship goals and self-expansion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(5), 1692-1709. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407521996476

Holtzman, S., Kushlev, K., Wozny, A., & Godard, R. (2021). Long-distance texting: Text messaging predicts relationship satisfaction in long-distance relationships. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 4, 100145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100145

Hurlock, E. B. (1996). Psikologi Perkembangan. Jakarta: Erlangga.

Jannah, M., Kamsani, S. R., Mohd., N., & Ariffin. (2021). Perkembangan Usia Dewasa : Tugas Dan Hambatan Pada Korban Konflik Pasca Damai. Bunayya : Jurnal Pendidikan Anak, 7(2), 114. https://doi.org/10.22373/bunayya.v7i2.10430

Jiang, L. C., & Hancock, J. T. (2018). Absence makes the communication grow fonder: Geographic separation, interpersonal media, and intimacy in dating relationships. Journal of Communication, 68(5), 868-888. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy037

Joshi, A. (2021). Does the physical distance between couples increase trust and overall satisfaction? A comparative study between long-distance romantic relationships and geographically close relationships. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 9(3), 1504-1512. https://doi.org/10.25215/0903.141

Kelmer, G., Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., Scott, S. B., Markman, H. J., &, Fincham, F. D. (2018). Unequally into us: Characteristics of individuals in asymmetrically committed relationships. Family Process.

Larsen, J., Axhausen, K. W., & Urry, J. (2021). Mobilities, networks, geographies. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351159340

Lee, J. J., & Lee, J. H. (2020). Long-distance romantic relationships: Exploring the role of social media in relationship satisfaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(9), 634-640. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0634

Liu, H., & Xie, Y. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of long-distance romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(5), 1576-1596. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211064dbf

Luo S., Tuney S. (2015). Can texting be used to improve romantic relationships?—The effects of sending positive text messages on relationship satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 670-678. 10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.035

Maguire, K. C., & Kinney, T. A. (2010). When Distance is Problematic: Communication, Coping, and Relational Satisfaction in Female College Students’ Long-Distance Dating Relationships. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 38(1), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909880903483573

Mckenna-Buchanan, T., Munz, S., & Rudnick, J. (2020). To be or not to be...out in the classroom: Exploring communication privacy management strategies of lesbian, gay, and queer college teachers. Communication Education, 69(2), 169-188. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2019.1708745

Merolla, A. J. (2019). Relational maintenance and noncopresence reconsidered: Conceptualizing geographic separation in close relationships. Communication Theory, 20(2), 169–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2010.01359.x

Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Morey, J. N., Gentzler, A. L., Creasy, B., Oberhauser, A. M., & Westerman, D. (2019). Young adults' use of communication technology within their romantic relationships and associations with attachment style. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, 298-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.033

Paputungan, F. (2023). Karakteristik Perkembangan Masa Dewasa Awal Developmental Characteristics of Early Adulthood. Media Online) Journal of Education and Culture (JEaC), 3(1), 2986–1012.

Purnawan, P. O., & Ratriana Yuliastuti Endang Kusumiati. (2024). Hubungan Antara Kepuasan Pernikahan Dengan Intensi Berselingkuh Pada Pasangan Yang Menjalani Long Distance Relationship (LDR). G-Couns: Jurnal Bimbingan Dan Konseling, 8(3), 1525–1533. https://doi.org/10.31316/gcouns.v8i3.6084

Ramadhani Zahra, W. N. R. (2022). Penerapan Bahasa Cinta Dalam Pemeliharaan Hubungan Romantis Jarak Jauh. http://www.fisip.undip.ac.id

Ruppel, E. K., Burke, T. J., & Holman, A. J. (2018). Channel complementarity and multiplexity in long-distance friends' patterns of communication technology use. New Media & Society, 20(4), 1564-1579. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817699995

Sánchez-Martín, M., Bote-Lorenzo, M. L., Gómez-Sánchez, E., Prieto-Campos, B., & Asensio-Pérez, J. I. (2022). A systematic literature review of social network analysis in educational technology. Computers & Education, 104624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104624

Stafford, L., & Merolla, A. J. (2007). Distance matters: Dilemmas of long-distance relationships. Personal Relationships, 14(3), 391-410. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00173.x

Sutcliffe, A. G., Binder, J. F., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2018). Activity in social media and intimacy in social relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 85(March), 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.050

Timmermans, E., Courtois, C., & Vandenbosch, L. (2023). Social media use in long-distance romantic relationships. Social Media Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221150416

Waterman, E. A., Wesche, R., Leavitt, C. E., Jones, D. E., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2017). Long-distance dating relationships, relationship dissolution, and college adjustment. Emerging Adulthood, 5(4), 268-279. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696817704118

Watkins, Y. D., Manning, J., & Averbeck, J. M. (2022). "It's about spending time together": Dialectical tensions in long-distance dating relationships. Southern Communication Journal, 87(1), 22-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2021.1981412

Weiner, A. S., & Hanasono, L. K. (2020). Affectionate communication and relational outcomes in long-distance romantic relationships. Communication Quarterly, 68(5), 523-546. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2020.1805241

Downloads

Published

2025-10-31

Citation Check