A Cross-National Comparison of Ghosting Knowledge, Attitudes, Intentions, and Behaviors in Friendships and Romantic Relationships Spanning Twelve Countries

Although ghosting (i.e., ending a relationship by cutting off contact) is a common form of social rejection across multiple social contexts and has been studied in countries across the globe, there have been no systematic comparisons of how people may differ in their ghosting knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors across countries. In two cross-national studies spanning 12 countries, we examine whether people know of ghosting as a rejection strategy for ending friendships and romantic relationships, are accepting of it, intend to use it in the future, and have used it in the past. In Study 1 ( N = 885), we collected data from Canada ( n = 146), Kenya ( n = 140), Mexico ( n = 145), Nigeria ( n = 148), South Africa ( n = 156), and the United States ( n = 150). In Study 2 ( N = 1,741), we collected data from Brazil ( n = 236), Ghana ( n = 243), India ( n = 236), Indonesia ( n = 267), Kenya ( n = 240), the Philippines ( n = 257), and Ukraine ( n = 262). Across both studies, we find that ghosting is a widely known form of social rejection across many countries, but that there are clear country-based differences in how people feel about it, whether they intend to use it, and whether they have used it previously in ending friendships and romantic relationships.