Title of study: Emotional Intelligence and Trust as Predictors for Online Romantic Relationships Satisfaction
Name of investigator: Karen Kristine de Oliveira Vaz
Email of investigator: KKD0043@my.londonmet.ac.uk
Name of supervisor: Emma Short
Email of supervisor: e.short@londonmet.ac.uk
You are being invited to take part in a research study about online romantic relationships satisfaction, looking at emotional intelligence and trust. This study is undertaken to write a BSc dissertation in Psychology at London Metropolitan University. Participation is completely voluntary and before you decide if you want to participate, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what you should expect. We kindly ask that you take some time to read the information in this form and ask us if anything is unclear or if you would like more information.
The study will be focusing on online romantic relationships, meaning only relationships where communication happens mainly online through text messages and calls are to be included. We plan to collect information relating to relationship satisfaction, emotional intelligence and trust to look for any connections between them. There is much other research that investigated the link between emotional intelligence and relationship satisfaction as well as trust and relationship satisfaction separately. However, there are no research done including relationship satisfaction, emotional intelligence and trust together in the context of online dating. There is a lack of research looking at online romantic relationships; therefore, we hope to make valuable contributions to research with the findings. Your participation should last approximately 15 minutes, the project itself will last for about 5 months.
We are interested in investigating experiences of online romantic relationships. You are being invited to participate in this study because you have current experience in online dating. Those that are under-18s will be automatically screened out and those who are not in an online relationship will be redirected to the end of the survey. We are hoping to have a minimum of 106 participants in the study, and you can be one of them if you wish to do so.
You have the right to decide whether you wish to take part or not. If you do decide to participate you will be asked to give consent and follow the instructions given. Even if you do give consent to participate, you can still change your mind at any time and withdraw from the study. You do not need to have a reason to withdraw, it is your right to do so. Withdrawing from the study will not affect you in any way.
The study will involve the following stages:
- Once you read the Participant Information Sheet and decide to give consent and participate, you will be asked a few demographic questions about your age, gender, ethnicity and whether you are in an online relationship.
- There will be 3 different questionnaires: the first one will ask about emotional intelligence, the second about trust and the last will ask about relationship satisfaction. The questionnaires are not extensive and should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
- After you complete the questionnaires, you will be given a Debrief Form with further information about the study.
There will be no direct benefits or compensation to participants, however we hope that the results will help us to understand the connection between emotional intelligence, trust and relationship satisfaction in the context of online dating.
You will be asked about your relationship, trust and emotional intelligence. Some questions may feel personal or triggering, inducing reflection. There is a low risk of distress due to the indirectly sensitive questions, however, measures to minimise the risks to you have been taken. All information will be treated confidentially. If at any point you feel triggered by the questionnaires, you are free to withdraw with no penalties and without the need to explain. You will be asked to create a 4-digit PIN which you can use to request your data to be modified, accessed or deleted. You are free to withdraw up until a month after data collection. After a month, withdrawal is no longer possible as data would have been analysed already so data cannot be removed. You can request the deletion of data from the files, but data cannot be removed from the analyses already performed. You will also be given contact information for support if you need after the study.
We take your privacy seriously. Your identity will always remain confidential and protected as no identifiable data will be collected at any stage, meaning your response cannot be linked to you in any way. Data in aggregate form, not raw data, may be shared with the scientific community and industry. Your data will be stored on password-protected London Metropolitan University OneDrive in which only the researcher and supervisor have access. The data will be reported only in anonymous aggregated form and will be retained until August 2026.
The information from this study will be used in the dissertation and may be published in scientific papers and on public registries. If this is the case, your identity will remain confidential, and no one will know that you were part of the study.
If you have any questions or worry regarding your participation in the study, please feel free to contact the investigator for further information. Any query you may have will be answered.
Information will solely be used for this research study that aims to investigate and improve online romantic relationships satisfaction and its connection to emotional intelligence and trust. The legal basis for processing your personal data is Article 6(1)(e) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The legal basis for processing your personal data is Article 6(1)(e) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), as amended by The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. If you would like more information about how your data will be processed at London Metropolitan University in accordance with these regulations please visit the following link: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/about/policies/data-protection/
You have the right to access, modify and erase your data and you will be able to do that by completing the anonymous Data Access, Correction or Erasure online survey by inserting the unique four-digit PIN that you will be asked to generate. You will be provided with the link to the survey immediately after your participation. However, after one month from your participation it will not be possible to withdraw your data from analyses already performed, but your data will be removed from any future analyses. During your participation you are free to withdraw at any point simply by closing the Web page of the study.
Because the student carrying out the research will leave the university upon graduation and dismantle the study apparatus, you can exercise your right to access/modify/erase your data only until June 2026.
This study was approved by the Research Ethics Review Panel (RERP) of the University and conforms to the British Psychological Society’s Code of Ethics and Conduct (2021).
You are invited to save or print the Web page containing the information sheet for your own record.