“I expect it as part of the kind of package deal when you sign up to these things”—Motivations and experiences of ghosting.

Most online dating users perceive ghosting to be common and expect that there is a chance of being ghosted on online dating platforms (ODPs). The current study extends previous research by gaining qualitative insight into what people believe constitutes ghosting behavior, why people ghost, and how ghosting makes them feel. This study aimed to (a) explore individuals’ motivations to ghost, (b) explore individuals experiences of ghosting, and (c) gather the ghosters views of ghosting definition. A total of 12 online interviews were conducted. All participants had previously ghosted on ODPs and lived in the United Kingdom. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The presented five themes reflect a contextual realist approach, using both semantic and latent coding, and reveal that ghosting is considered the norm on ODP. There are general and specific motivations underpinning ghosting behavior, producing a mixed emotional response from the ghoster. The findings also shed light on how we can better define ghosting, with participants having concerns with the word relationship. Finally, we highlight several protective factors that can minimize the likelihood of ghosting. Based on our findings we suggest that ghosting be defined as being a gradual or sudden one-sided ceasing of communication to end the progress of an interaction with another person. While we found several protective factors that can minimize the likelihood of ghosting, these are unique to the individual and ghosting cannot be abolished as it has become a normative and embedded practice within ODP. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)