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DOI: 10.1177/0033294119899902
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The Mediating Role

of Partner Cell
Phone Snooping

Abdulgaffar O. Arikewuyo
Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern
Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Turkey

Kayode K. Eluwole
Faculty of Tourism, Eastern Mediterranean University,
Famagusta, Turkey

€
Bahire Ozad
Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern
Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Turkey

Abstract
We investigated how a lack of trust in one’s romantic partner exacerbates problems
such as emotional instability, conflict, or intention to break up in relationships with
the role of cell phone snooping as a mediator. A cross-sectional survey of married
individuals (n ¼ 329) was conducted using an online questionnaire. Results indicate
that lack of trust is a significant predictor of romantic relationship problems. In
addition, structural equation modeling results support the theoretical model indi-
cating that cell phone snooping partially mediates the significant relationship between
emotional instability, intention to break up, and conflicts. Findings support the

Corresponding Author:
Abdulgaffar O. Arikewuyo, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern Mediterranean
University, Famagusta, North Cyprus via Mersin 10, Turkey.
Email: abdulgaffar@emu.edu.tr
2 Psychological Reports 0(0)

development of trust in romantic partners as an approach to stability and avoidance

of problems in romantic relationships.

Keywords
Lack of trust, cell phone snooping, emotional instability, intention to break up, conflict

Introduction
Advances in technology and its accompanying cultural shift has influenced how
people in romantic relationships interact and communicate (Reed, Tolman, &
Ward, 2016). Today’s lovers like other people employs digital media as a
common medium of communication and the increasing influence of mobile
technology and reach implies that cell phone use is now a critical part of
every relationship. While its use can help in fostering a smooth relationship,
cell phone use make it even easier for users to engage in actions that can rep-
resent a threat to their current romantic relationship since digital communica-
tion has redefined romantic relationship boundaries with greater opportunities
for abuse (Draucker & Martsolf, 2010).
Cell phones can easily be used to communicate with potential relationship
threats in addition to maintaining unbroken communication with the person in
the relationship. Snooping may be classified as a deliberate act of searching for
an individual’s information, most especially without prior notice (Marques,
Muslukhov, Guerreiro, Beznosov, & Carriço, 2016). Snooping involves direct
or indirect monitoring or surveillance to find out online or off-line information
about an individual, most especially when the individual is not aware
(Morrongiello, Hou, & Cox, 2019). Snooping may be referred to as a secret
intrusion into or surveillance of a partner’s private communication activities on
their cell phone (text message, calls, social networking sites (SNS) chats, and
e-mails) (Derby, Knox, & Easterlıng, 2012).
Therefore, cell phone snooping may be described as an unapproved act of
monitoring or seeking information from an individual’s cell phone. When an
individual in a romantic relationship snoop their partner’s cell phone, the ulti-
mate desire may be to monitor, or seek information that involves finding out the
online or off-line activities of their partner through their (partner’s) cell phone.
This is further affirmed by Derby et al. (2012) who stated that 65% of their
sample engage in cell phone snooping, making it the second most common
snooping activity after text message snooping.
While forming intimate relationships is fundamental to human living, its
development, establishment, and maintenance require complex skill sets that
may be developmental or even unfolding in nature with time (Shulman &
Arikewuyo et al. 3

Connolly, 2013). Unfortunately, not all marital relationships are properly

equipped to deal with the demands of the new social status which lead to roman-
tic relationships challenges such as conflict, emotional instability, and consider-
ation to break up (Schoebi & Randall, 2015). Inevitably, romantic relationships
are sometimes rocked by the storm of challenges and circumstances that
may either threaten the relationship or even outrightly result in the demise of
the relationship.
Considering the weight of the effect that romantic relationship problems have
on the relationship and by extension on the society, one will expect to see
enormous research interest with specific focus on understanding its antecedents
and recommendations toward its prevention. However, not many studies exist in
the area of cell phone snooping in romantic relationships especially those with
pertinent interest on how cell phone snooping impacts on romantic relationship
problems. This study aims to contribute and further expand the existing litera-
ture on the effects of cell phones on relationships. Accordingly, the ultimate goal
of this study is to examine how lack of trust increases partner cell phone snoop-
ing, thereby exacerbating romantic relationship problems in ways such as emo-
tional instability, conflict, or intention to break up. In this context, relationship
problems are contextualized as emotional instability, conflict, or intention to
break by one (or perhaps both) of the partners in a relationship.

Literature review
Trust and romantic relationship problems
Trust is an essential requirement for every successful relationship. This is affirmed
by Simpson (2007), that “trust may be the single most important ingredient
for the development and maintenance of happy, well-functioning relationships”
(p. 264). Trust also involves romantic partners engaging in activities that may
require a significant level of commitments and risks, which will most likely occur
after a certain stage in the relationship (Rempel, Holmes, & Zanna, 1985).
However, lack of trust may exist when an individual becomes undependable,
dishonest, and not open in personal activities, thereby leading to the inability to
support or maintain high commitment (Mogilski, Vrabel, Mitchell, & Welling,
2019). Lack of trust is also capable of reducing the level of commitment and effort
individuals invest in making a relationship work (Simpson, 1990). Vınkers,
Fınkenauer, and Hawk (2011) asserted that lack of trust, which is a prelude to
a snooping romantic partner, is a strong indicator for a broken relationship.
In essence, individuals who do not have trust in their romantic partners may be
tilting the relationship toward a problematic one (Vınkers et al., 2011).
Emotional instability has also been associated with violence and attitudinal
imbalance (Carlo et al., 2012). However, “traits such as anxiety, depression,
impulsiveness, and other such manifestations of affect regulation give more
4 Psychological Reports 0(0)

specificity to what is meant by emotional instability” (Reid, Carpenter,

Spackman, & Willes, 2018, p. 137). Furthermore, emotional instability in
romantic relationships may be associated with the inability of the partners to
engage in effective and productive communication (Miano, Grosselli, Roepke,
& Dziobek, 2017). Lack of trust has also been associated with low emotional,
physical, and other forms of sacrifice that may be needed for a successful rela-
tionship (Righetti, Balliet, & Visserman, 2015). This may result in a gradual or
total reduction in intimacy or love.
Conflict may be classified as a form of disagreement or contradiction that
exists due to difference in goals, aspirations, values, and everyday life issues
(Azim, 2017). For example, conflict at the workplace brings about an uncon-
ducive environment where there is no cordial relationship (Korovyakovskaya &
Chong, 2016). Aldeis and Afifi (2015) assert that secrecy is a key predictor of
conflict in romantic relationship, while stating further that individuals who
experienced security in their past relationship are not likely to trust their current
partner thereby leading to conflicts.
Connolly and McIsaac (2009) assert that for any relationship to thrive, the
partners need to pursue optimum trust, communication, emotional closeness,
and understanding. These features will help avoid undue or unnecessarily fre-
quent conflict, which may lead to an intention to break up. Lack of trust also
reduces the level of commitment, intimacy, and sustainability of a relationship,
thereby prompting either of the partners to initiate a breakup (Towner, Dolcini,
& Harper, 2015). Seen in this light, lack of trust may possess the ability to
exacerbate certain problematic features in a relationship.

Cell phone snooping and romantic relationship problems

Cell phone snooping has become a common phenomenon, most especially
among individuals in intimate or romantic relationship (Vınkers et al., 2011).
Some of the motivations behind cell phone snooping in relationships may
include lack of trust and low self-esteem (Derby et al., 2012). This may pose
great disadvantages as cell phones have been found to be associated with phys-
ical, psychological, and sexual and emotional violence (Reed et al., 2016), result-
ing in anxiety, uncertainty, depression, and repulsion (Reid, Carpenter,
Spackman, & Willes, 2008).
Cell phone use has been associated with various degrees of stress, which
sometimes triggers conflicts in personal relationships (Morris et al., 2010).
Cell phone use has also increased the frequency of conflicts in relationships,
most especially when either of the partners disobeys the couple’s phone rules
(Duran, Kelly, & Rotaru, 2011). For instance, romantic partners may set rules
on when to call or text each other, most especially during working hours. In
addition, when the partners disobey the rules, it may trigger anger or conflict.
Partners may also set boundaries with calls or texts with the opposite gender;
Arikewuyo et al. 5

however, the violation of such rules may lead to conflict. The implication of this
is that romantic partners do not have absolute privacy or autonomy with their
cell phone use. However, conflicts may also arise in a relationship due to the
emotional, psychical, and psychological effects of cell phone use (Zheng & Lee,
2016).
In addition, cell phone use has significantly contributed to a number of
breakups (Boase & Kobayashi, 2008). When a relationship becomes unbearable
for the individuals involved, breaking up through cell phone facilitates the
action. Although not all conflicts lead to a breakup in romantic relationships,
when cell phone conflicts become too frequent and unbearable, romantic part-
ners may begin to initiate a breakup. At the same time, cell phones have helped
divorced couples to maintain communication while planning together about the
progress of their offspring (Ganong, Coleman, Feıstman, & Jamıson, 2012). In
essence, the role of cell phone use in romantic relationship problems needs to be
approached in different ways (Eichenberg, Huss, & Küsel, 2017).
Cell phones have provided individuals with an array of access to different
online platforms including social media (Derby et al., 2012), thereby becoming
an easy access to monitoring romantic partners. Dainton and Stokes (2015)
stated that individuals engage in online monitoring of their romantic partners
as a form of maintaining their relationship; however, online monitoring was
found to be largely associated with jealousy in relationships. However, techno-
logical innovation has further strengthened individual’s ability to monitor or
snoop through their partner’s cell phones without leaving any traces where the
individual can find out who has looked through their device or online platforms
(Fox, Warber, & Makstaller, 2013).
Goodboy, Bolkan, and State (2011) stated that negative relational mainte-
nance behaviors such as jealousy induction, avoidance, spying, and conflicts
among others have negative effects on the relationship. As such, individuals
who are engaged in such activities are most likely to have relational problems.
However, there is the need for romantic partners to ensure positive relational
behaviors such as self-disclosure as well as avail their partners adequate infor-
mation in their relationships (Anderegg, Dale, & Fox, 2014), this will drastically
reduce the urge or possibility of snooping in the relationship as it would have
provided the minimum level of trust.
Individuals are now able to access various degrees of information about their
partners on social networking platforms, thereby inflaming jealousy (Utz &
Beukeboom, 2011), this may, however, be attributed to the availability and
accessibility of SNS platforms on cell phones. Intrusion of a partner’s online
activities may arise due to jealousy, monitoring, surveillance, or snooping of
romantic partner’s online activities. This may thereafter increase relationship
conflicts (Elphinston & Noller, 2011). Furthermore, Dibello, Rodriguez,
Hadden, and Neighbors (2015) explains that when individuals begin to experi-
ence some form of threats to their self-esteem, lack of confidence, and some
6 Psychological Reports 0(0)

form of suspicion to their romantic partner, it may ignite jealousy and reduce
the quality of satisfaction in their relationship.

The present study

Trust is ultimately an essential component required for any stable and purposeful
relationship (Laborde, vanDommelen-Gonzalez, & Minnis, 2014). As Mullinax
et al. (2016) argued, trust which they conceptualized as feeling of being in emo-
tional and physical safety with one’s partner is a key determinant of the partner’s
attitude and behavior in romantic relationships. When individuals in a relation-
ship do not trust each other, the relationship may tilt toward a series of emotional
problems, which may lead to a breakup. However, this study categorizes emo-
tional instability, conflict, and intention to break up as relationship problems
romantic partners may experience. The recent increase in the use of cell phones
may also pose significant challenges to relationship sustainability and progress.
This may be because individuals engage in snooping on their romantic partner’s
cell phone to find out if they are engaging in unhealthy activities such as infidelity.
Cell phone snooping may occur when an individual’s partner is in the shower,
sleeping, or engaged in other activities. Because snooping involves a deliberate but
unapproved act, it may well exacerbate romantic relationship problems such as
emotional instability, conflict, or intention to break up.
First, the study investigates how lack of trust in a romantic partner brings about
frequent snooping of their cell phone, with the obvious intention of finding out if
they are involved in unpleasant activities (such as infidelity). Second, the study
examines how lack of trust in a romantic partner further causes instability in the
emotional state of an individual, leading an individual to require a breakup as well
as frequent conflicts, which is likely to lead to stress and breakdown. Finally, the
study investigates whether cell phone snooping is a prelude to relationship prob-
lems such as emotional instability, intention to break up, and conflict.
In this study, therefore, we hypothesize that partner phone snooping occurs
in a relationship due to lack of trust. Consequently, when there is an insubstan-
tial level of trust in a romantic partner, relationship problems such as intention
to break up, frequent conflicts, and emotional instability will most likely occur.
Furthermore, we propose that cell phone snooping will act as a mediator
between lack of trust and other relationship factors. For example, the more
frequent the phone snooping, the more likely the resulting higher lack of trust
will influence an individual’s intention to break up in the relationship.
The following are the hypotheses for the study:

Hypothesis 1: Lack of trust will be positively associated with partner cell phone
snooping.
Arikewuyo et al. 7

Hypothesis 2: Lack of trust will be positively associated with (a) emotional insta-
bility, (b) relationship conflicts, and (c) intention to break up.

Hypothesis 3: Partner cell phone snooping will be positively associated with (a)
emotional instability, (b) relationship conflicts, and (c) intention to break up.

Hypothesis 4: Partner cell phone snooping will mediate the positive relationship
between lack of trust in a romantic partner and (a) emotional instability, (b) rela-
tionship conflicts, and (c) intention to break up.

Method
We optimized a cross-sectional online survey in collecting data for this research
after an approval from the institutional research and ethics board. The intro-
duction provided a clear and very brief explanation about the purpose of the
research. Instructions were given that only participants who were married were
allowed to participate in the research. Subsequently, respondents were first
asked if they were married, and only those who clicked “yes” were allowed to
proceed to answering the questions. The data collection period lasted for 61 days
after which a total of N ¼ 341 respondents answered the questionnaire. URL
link was sent to personal contacts of the authors who are married through
e-mails and social networking platforms. Research assistants and graduate
students of the authors also helped in sharing the URL. Participation was
voluntary and participants were not compensated. From the 346 received
responses, 329 were found valid after eliminating incomplete responses and
deleting the nonresponsive cases. The sample consisted of 329 married individ-
uals. The participants age ranged from 24 years to 57 years (M age 35.59).
Majority of the participants were females (N ¼ 205; 62.3%) and males
(N ¼ 124; 37.7%). Participants’ length of relationship ranged from 3 months
to 300 months (M relationhip length 63.28).
SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 statistical packages were used in analyzing the
data for the study. To meet up with certain preliminary statistical assumptions
as suggested by Cox and Wermuth (1994), normality, outliers, and linearity were
met, thereby resulting in a sample of n ¼ 329. This, therefore, enabled us to
proceed with the main analysis. Reliability and validity of the data were also
examined, and, as suggested by Gefen, Straub and Boudreau (2000), the findings
showed internal consistency of the constructs. In addition, validity was ensured
according to the suggestion of Hair et al. (2014), in that the values of the average
variance extracted were above five, which is the minimum acceptable threshold.
8 Psychological Reports 0(0)

Measures
All measures in the study were adapted from already existing English scales.

Lack of trust
To measure lack of trust in romantic relationships, the study adopted a five-item
dependability subscale developed to measure the extent to which a partner is honest
and reliable. The scales were developed by Rempel et al. (1985). Examples of items
include “My partner has not proven to be trustworthy and I am unwilling to let
him/her engage in activities that other partners do not find threatening” and “I am
uncertain that my partner would not cheat on me, even if the opportunity arose
and there was no chance that he/she would get caught.” All items were measured
on a five-point Likert-type scale (1 ¼ strongly disagree, 5 ¼ strongly agree)

Cell phone snooping

We measured cell phone snooping using an eight-item revised version of items
developed by Derby et al. (2012) to measure snooping in romantic relationships.
Responses were rated on a five-point Likert-type scale (0 ¼ strongly disagree and
4 ¼ strongly agree). Examples of items include “I snoop through my partner’s
cell phone to detect if he/she is hiding anything from me,” “I snoop through my
partner’s cell phone to know who he/she generally associates with,” “I snoop
through my partner’s cell phone due to unpleasant experience in the past,” and
“I snoop through my partner’s cell phone to see the update of his/her pictures.”

Emotional instability
Emotional instability was measured using an 18-item scale developed by Oliver
and Simons (2004). Examples of items used are “At times I feel just as relaxed as
everyone else and then within minutes I become so nervous that I feel light-
headed and dizzy,” “Many times I feel nervous and tense and then I suddenly
feel very sad and down,” and “I frequently switch from being able to control my
temper very well to not being able to control it very well at all.” All items were
measured on a seven-point Likert-type scale (1 ¼ very strongly disagree, 7 ¼ very
strongly agree).

Relationship conflict
A three-item subscale developed by Furman and Buhrmester (2009) was used in
measuring conflicts in romantic relationships. Examples of items include
“My partner and I often get upset or mad at each other,” “My partner and
I often argue with each other,” and “My partner and I often disagree and
quarrel.” All items were measured on a five-point Likert-type scale (1 ¼ strongly
disagree, 5 ¼ strongly agree).
Arikewuyo et al. 9

Intention to break up
The study adopted the four-item scale measuring intention to break up as devel-
oped by Nongpong and Charoensukmongkol (2016). Examples of items include
“I have realized that my relationship with my current partner should not con-
tinue,” “I want to start a new relationship with another person who might be
better than my current partner,” and “I_ have thought about ending the rela-
tionship with my current partner.” All items were measured on a five-point
Likert-type scale (0 ¼ strongly disagree, 4 ¼ strongly agree).

Results
Intercorrelation analysis was run to preliminarily determine the relationships
among the main variables as well as gender, age, and length of the relationship.
Table 1 summarizes the results.
Table 2 presents internal consistency and convergent validity of each of the con-
structs. However, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis to test the validity and
reliability of the data set. The model fit statistics show an acceptable fit indices over
the model fit measures (v2/df, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA),
incremental fit index (IFI), Tucker–Lewis index, and comparative fit index (CFI)),
with structural model results showing v2/df ¼ 2.68, p < .01; RMSEA ¼ 0.051;
CFI ¼ 0.95; IFI ¼ 0.94; goodness-of-fit index ¼ 0.89; parsimony normed
fit index ¼ 0.78; standardized root mean square residual ¼ 0.058. We also conducted
alternative model testing with four-factor and three-factor models, the results are
shown in Table 3 suggested that our proposed model fits the data more adequately.
A close look at Figures 1 and 2 shows a relationship between the hypothe-
sized model and empirical model/outcome. As assumed, lack of trust in a

Table 1. Means, SDs, and interconstruct correlations.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Gender 1 .353** .033 .056 .035 .023 .079 .115*

2. Age 1 .515** .015 .016 .058 .039 .103
3. Relationship length 1 .011 .001 .088 .103 .055
4. Lack of trust 1 .489** .317** .347** .370**
5. Cell phone snooping 1 .448** .477** .246**
6. Emotional instability 1 .655** .219**
7. Relationship conflicts 1 .228**
8. Intention to break up 1
Mean 2.88 3.56 3.74 3.98 3.30
SD .73 .75 .62 .56 .82
Note: Gender was coded 1 (female) and 2 (male). SD: standard deviation.
*p < .05. **p < .001.
10 Psychological Reports 0(0)

Table 2. Internal consistency and convergent validity.

Construct Items SL AVE CR a

Lack of trust LOT_1 0.641 0.520 0.811 .88

LOT_2 0.817
LOT_3 0.712
LOT_4 0.704
LOT_5 0.708
Cell phone snooping PCS_1 0.716 0.523 0.814 .89
PCS_2 0.732
PCS_3 0.737
PCS_4 0.598
PCS_5 0.807
PCS_6 0.823
PCS_7 0.732
PCS_8 0.583
Emotional instability EI_1 0.760 0.509 0.877 .94
EI_2 0.649
EI_3 0.754
EI_4 0.677
EI_5 0.806
EI_6 0.689
EI_7 0.668
EI_8 0.698
EI_9 0.699
EI_10 0.772
EI_11 0.766
EI_12 0.669
EI_13 0.745
EI_14 0.653
EI_15 0.731
EI_16 0.653
EI_17 0.765
EI_18 0.733
Relationship conflict RC_1 0.648 0.538 0.822 .91
RC_2 0.682
RC_3 0.748
Intention to break up ITB_1 0.739 0.504 0.890 .83
ITB_2 0.742
ITB_3 0.778

SL: standardized loading; AVE: average variance extracted; CR: composite reliability.

romantic relationship was positively significant with (1) cell phone snooping, (2)
emotional instability, (3) relationship conflict, and (4) intention to break up.
Furthermore, the relationship between lack of trust in a romantic relationship
and (1) emotional instability, (2) relationship conflict, and (3) intention to break
up was mediated by cell phone snooping.
Arikewuyo et al. 11

Table 3. Alternative model testing.

Models v2/df RMSEA CFI IFI GFI PNFI SRMR

Five-factor model (proposed) 2.68 0.051 0.95 0.94 0.89 0.78 0.058
Four-factor model (where 4.68 0.089 0.85 0.83 0.75 0.66 0.086
RC and ITB)
Three-factor model 7.92 0.105 0.65 0.62 0.56 0.51 0.112
RMSEA: root mean square error of approximation; IFI: incremental fit index; CFI: comparative fit index;
SRMR: standardized root mean square residual; GFI: goodness-of-fit index; PNFI: parsimony normed fit
index; RC: relationship conflict; ITB: intention to break up.

Partner Cell phone

Snooping

+
+ Emotional Instability
+
Lack of Trust

+ +
Relationship
Conflict
+
+

Intention to Break
up

Figure 1. Proposed research model and the postulated associations.

Partner cell phone snooping has a direct effect on emotional instability

(b ¼ .37, p < .01), relationship conflict (b ¼ .42, p < .01), and intention to break
up (b ¼ .06, p < .01). The direct effect of lack of trust in romantic relationship on
emotional instability was b ¼ .15, p < .01, while its indirect effect through cell
phone snooping was b ¼ .15, p < .01. The direct effect of lack of trust on rela-
tionship conflict was b ¼ .15, p < .01, while there was also an indirect effect
through cell phone snooping was b ¼ .15, p < .01. Moreover, lack of trust also
had a direct effect on intention to break up (b ¼ .36, p < .01) in comparison to its
low, indirect effect via cell phone snooping (b ¼ .03, p < .01). Therefore, cell
phone snooping is a partial mediator between lack of trust and romantic rela-
tionship problems.
12 Psychological Reports 0(0)

Partner Cellphone
Snooping

.51** Emotional
Instability
Lack of Trust

.15** Relationship
Conflict

Intention to
Breakup

Figure 2. Structural equation modeling for lack of trust, cell phone snooping, emotional
instability, relationship conflict, and intention to break up. **p  .01 and *p  .05 standardized
coefficients are displayed.

Discussion
The ultimate goal of this study was to determine how lack of trust (predictor)
affects romantic relationship problems such as conflicts, emotional instability,
and intention to break up while examining the indirect effects of cell phone
snooping. With the aid of a theoretical model, this research makes a significant
contribution to the limited existing literature on cell phone snooping in romantic
relationships. Our findings contribute to the literature by supporting that lack of
trust has a significant and direct link to snooping on a romantic partner’s cell
phone, conflict, inadequate communication, and surveillance (online and off-
line), among other factors (Vınkers et al., 2011). As predicted, lack of trust had a
significant influence on conflicts in relationships. This may imply that romantic
partners will experience conflict in their relationships due to their inability to
trust each other. Our study also discovered that lack of trust will positively
associate with the intention to break up.
In addition, our findings indicated that an increase in cell phone snooping
will be positively associated with an increase in emotional instability. This is
consistent with the study of Hartanto and Yang (2016), which found that cell
phone snooping will most likely increase the level of anxiety, depression, and
emotional uncertainty in a relationship. Regarding the direct effect of cell phone
snooping, we found that the behavior was associated with relationship conflict.
Arikewuyo et al. 13

As a consequence, partners may begin to conceptualize such an act as a means

of monitoring or surveillance, which may affect their level of freedom and there-
by increase the frequency of relationship conflict (Rice & Katz, 2008).
In addition, cell phone snooping was found to be associated with intention to
break up. In such a context, snooping on a partner’s cell phone is largely asso-
ciated with lack of trust, which ultimately poses great danger to the survival of
such relationships. Individuals may find pleasure and gratification in snooping
through their partner’s daily activities on their cell phone; however, snooping is
not largely dependent on a particular gender (Marques et al., 2016). In many
cases, such issues are very likely to generate frequent conflict between romantic
partners and an eventual breakup. This finding is consistent with the literature
(Reed et al., 2016).
Findings in the study reveal that cell phone snooping has an indirect effect on
lack of trust and emotional instability in romantic relationships. This indicates
that cell phone snooping partially mediated the relationship between lack of
trust and emotional instability. Therefore, due to the indirect effect of lack of
trust on emotional instability through the mediating role of cell phone snooping,
when there is lack of trust between individuals in a romantic relationship, it will
most likely encourage emotional instability. Furthermore, lack of trust has an
indirect effect on conflict via cell phone snooping, indicating that cell phone
snooping partially mediated the relationship between lack of trust and conflict.
Specifically, the more frequently an individual snoops on his/her romantic part-
ner’s cell phone, the greater the effect of lack of trust on conflict. Therefore, due
to the indirect effect of lack of trust on conflict, when lack of trust goes up, it will
most likely increase the frequency of conflict in the relationship. Findings also
indicated an indirect effect of lack of trust on intention to break up through cell
phone snooping, as such, a partial mediation exists in the relationship between
lack of trust and intention to break up through cell phone snooping. However,
this is in addition to any direct effect that lack of trust may have on intention to
break up. In summary, cell phone snooping mediates the effects of lack of trust
on romantic relationship problems such as emotional instability, conflicts, and
intention to break up. Our findings are consistent with the literature, which
asserts that snooping has negative effects on romantic relationships and their
stability (Derby et al., 2012).

Conclusion
This study, through its theoretical model, has been able to accentuate the effects of
cell phone snooping in interpersonal relationships, most especially romantic rela-
tionships. We, therefore, argue that cell phone snooping has significant negative
psychological effects on individuals, which may initiate or increase the level of
distrust in a romantic relationship, thereby leading to emotional instability, con-
flict, and ultimately intention to break up. Our study suggests that lack of trust
14 Psychological Reports 0(0)

may affect cell phone snooping in romantic relationships, which may be due to
unpleasant past experiences in such a relationship thereby amplifying relationship
problems such as emotional instability, conflict, and intention to break up.
Consequently, it underscores the notion that relationships thrive when partners
trust each other thereby reducing the problems therein (Uysal, Lin, & Bush, 2012).
This study has been able to further establish an understanding of the signif-
icant negative effects of lack of trust in romantic relationships as well as how it
can lead to more problems, such as emotional instability, conflict, and intention
to break up. The study will guide romantic partners, most especially couples, on
how to manage cell phone problems due to its effects as well as shed more light
on the negative effects of cell phone snooping.

Limitations and future directions

It is important to recognize that this study is open to further research but is not
without its limitations. Our study sampled only married individuals, which may
act as a limitation. However, future research may include individuals who are
either dating or cohabiting. Also future research may also investigate how age
and relationship length moderate the cell phone snooping and relationship
problems. In addition, based on the cross-sectional nature of this research,
the study is prone to a number of limitations; however, the recommendations
of Podsakoff et al. (2003) were followed in order to limit the issue of common
method bias that may occur as a result of using this method. Further research
may conduct a longitudinal study to determine whether there may be a change
in cell phone snooping over time. Also further studies may investigate the
attributes that contribute to individuals having lack of trust in their romantic
partners. Subsequent studies may also investigate whether age and length of
relationship moderate the relationship between lack of trust and cell phone
snooping. Although there are quite a number of studies on cell phone use,
however, there is a dearth in research conducted in the area of cell phone
snooping in romantic relationships. This therefore limits the availability of
data and statistical figures in the area of cell phone snooping and most especially
among romantic partners. This indicates that researchers need to focus more
attention on the psychological effects of cell phone snooping.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article.
Arikewuyo et al. 15

ORCID iD
Abdulgaffar O. Arikewuyo https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5266-6478

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Author Biographies
Abdulgaffar O. Arikewuyo holds a PhD in Communication and Media Studies
at Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus. His research combines
aspects of Communication Psychology, Interpersonal Communication,
Romantic Relationships, Sexual Communication and Gratification, Family
Relations while focusing on communication patterns individuals in intimate
(sexual and romantic) relationships. He also examines the impact of communi-
cation apparatus such as mainstream and social media on human relationships,
with emphases on how social media platforms facilitate satisfaction and dissat-
isfaction in romantic relationships. He is currently a researcher at the
Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

Kayode K. Eluwole is a PhD candidate and, research and teaching assistant in

the Faculty of Tourism Eastern Mediterranean University (Gazimagusa,
TRNC, via Mersin 10, 99628, Turkey). His research interest includes human
resource management, organization management, organizational behavior,
leadership, knowledge management, innovative work behavior, employee psy-
chology, and employee and customer-oriented business development.

€
Bahire Ozad is a professor at the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies
of Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus. She holds a PhD in
Education from the University of Manchester. Currently she teaches Research
Methods for Social Sciences and English for Mass Communication. Her
research interests are educational technology, media literacy, culture, particu-
larly the gypsy culture in Cyprus.