Long-Distance Intimacy : How Intimacy in Long-Distance Relationships Changes over Erasmus+ Exchange

Abstract: In recent years technology has developed significantly and rapidly become an intricate part of people’s daily life in the globalised world. There is a growing recognition that within intimate relationships, technology usage has many functions which can create both negative and positive impacts on intimacy.  Yet research on intimacy in online social relationships is still underdeveloped. This paper maps the literature on long-distance relationships and how its participants use information and communication technologies to overcome the physical detachment. The purpose of this study is to examine whether intimacy changes over Erasmus+ exchange studies in long-distance romantic and parental relationships. Data from an online survey of 100 Erasmus+ exchange students residing in Budapest, Hungary were analysed to see whether the quality of their relationship worsens during the exchange period. Based on the data collected it can be concluded that the majority of respondents does not experience critical decay in neither of their relationships and that preparation for distance communication with ICTs is not strongly connected to preventing a decay in intimacy.