Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2025

Loneliness Assuaged: Eye-Tracking an Audience Watching Barrage Videos
Published on: May 29, 2020
Romantic relationship satisfaction and phubbing: The role of loneliness and empathy
Siqun Zhan1, Silu Shrestha1, Nian Zhong1
1Department of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Abstract:
This study investigates the effects of loneliness and empathy on romantic relationship satisfaction and phubbing. Loneliness plays a mediating role in romantic relationship satisfaction and phubbing. The level of empathy moderates these mediating effects. Five hundred and four Chinese adults completed tests of romantic relationship satisfaction, phubbing, loneliness, and empathy. The results show that romantic relationship satisfaction is negatively correlated with phubbing. Loneliness mediates this process. Specifically, lower romantic relationship satisfaction leads to more phubbing by increasing loneliness. Our study also shows that the mediating relationship is moderated by the level of empathy. To be more specific, the higher the level of empathy, the stronger the impact of romantic relationship satisfaction on loneliness, and the more phubbing individuals exhibit.
Related Concept Videos
Relationship Formation
Empathy
Social Exchange Theory
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

