Investigating the Social Benefits of Long-Distance Romantic Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Long-distance romantic relationships (LDRRs) have grown increasingly common due to career-related necessity and the proliferation of digital technologies. We sought to understand how LDRRs differed from individuals in cohabitating romantic relationships (CRRs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a multinational, six-wave dataset collected during the beginning of the pandemic (Nobservations = 2,954), we hypothesized an interaction whereby spending more time with one’s partner than was typical would lead to increased passion and decreased conflict for LDRRs, but decreased passion and increased conflict for CRRs. However, we found, regardless of relationship type, spending more time with one’s partner led to better outcomes. Nevertheless, LDRRs reported less conflict and more passion than those in CRRs. These associations remained consistent across case-control matched models and models adjusting for theoretically-relevant covariates. While LDRRs navigate periods of uncertainty better than CRRs, spending more time with one’s partner, irrespective of the arrangement, is ultimately beneficial.