Eroticized Influencer Couples and Relational Jealousy
Influencers are people who have large online followerships and use social media to promote themselves or products they endorse. Some influencers focus on fashion, beauty, makeup, fitness, food, travel, lifestyle, parenting, or other topics.
Some influencers have built an audience around their erotic lives. These are often called "erotic" or "pornographic" influencers, because they post explicit images and videos of their sex lives that appeal to fans' voyeuristic curiosities. Many of these influencers also engage in live streams where audiences watch them masturbate or have sex.
Influencer couples team up with each other to attract more attention and increase profits. One example is Jem Wolfie, a model with 4.2 million Instagram followers, and her boyfriend Mick Blue, a porn star with 8.4 million followers. They post pictures and videos together, usually involving nudity, intimacy, and sexual activity. Their posts have received millions of likes.
Their success has inspired similar couples. Many erotic influencers now partner up to create content for an even larger audience. This has led to new kinds of relationships, where fans can watch as couples fall in love, argue, break up, and come back together. Fans feel invested in the relationship itself, not just the erotic activity.
This raises questions about relational jealousy. When two influencers attract a following by posting romantic, sensual, and/or sexual content, do those watching become emotionally attached? Do they feel jealous if the couple breaks up? Does this jealousy influence their own relationships? If so, how does it manifest? Are there ways to mitigate or prevent it? Can eroticized influencer couples be role models for healthy intimacy and communication in relationships? What can we learn from this phenomenon?
Research on Relational Jealousy
Psychologists have studied relational jealousy since the early 1900s. It is defined as "an emotional response to a perceived threat to one's relationship" (Blow et al., 2005). The response may include anger, sadness, anxiety, depression, or other negative feelings. In extreme cases, it may lead to violence or self-harm. Relational jealousy involves both feelings and behaviors.
Research shows that some people are more prone to jealousy than others. Those who experience high attachment avoidance tend to be less jealous than those with high attachment anxiety (Cassidy & Connolly, 2004). This means that fear of abandonment motivates them to try harder to maintain their relationships, even at the cost of their own needs. Highly secure individuals, meanwhile, are less likely to be jealous because they trust partners not to leave. They focus on themselves instead.
The most common trigger for relational jealousy is infidelity. But other events, such as exclusion or flirting, can also elicit strong reactions. Partners can be unfaithful physically or emotionally.
If one partner shares personal information with another person without permission or consent, the other may feel betrayed and become envious.
Relationship satisfaction plays an important role in relational jealousy. People in satisfying relationships may still feel jealous, but it does not affect them as strongly as people in unsatisfying ones. Satisfied couples have higher levels of commitment, trust, and intimacy. Therefore, they may be better equipped to handle jealousy when it arises (Conroy et al., 2019).
Eroticized Influencer Couples and Relational Jealousy
Erotic influencers do not usually claim to model healthy communication or intimacy. Their posts often involve one-sided nudity, sexual activity, or emotional distance. Some viewers may see this as a realistic portrayal of modern romance, while others may find it troubling. It creates conflict between what we expect from our relationships versus what erotic influencers show us.
Some fans identify so strongly with the couple that they feel like part of their relationship. They develop intense feelings about whether or not the two stay together. When the couple breaks up, fans may experience breakup grief, which has been shown to resemble mourning for lost partners (Brenner & Winslow, 2013). Fans may even take actions to prevent the split-up.
If erotic influencers are seen as role models, then their behavior could influence how fans approach their own relationships.
If they watch pornographic videos and live streams, they might assume that sex is more
To what extent do eroticized influencer couples influence relational jealousy in their audiences?
Eroticized influencer couples may influence relational jealousy in their audiences to some extent. According to research, social media influencers who display intimate relationships online are often perceived as more desirable partners by followers (Sun & Liang, 2018). This creates an environment where fans compare themselves with these idealized relationships and feel envy towards them.