Have you ever had to filter your newsfeed from all the mushy and cheesy couple posts that appear on your timeline? While there’s nothing wrong with posting photos of you and your significant other from time to time, too much of it can come off as annoying and only shows that you’re insecure.

Yes, you heard that right. People who make a huge deal about their relationship online are actually the most insecure.

According to a new study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin who examined attachment and relationship visibility on Facebook, if you’re an “anxious individual”, you’re more likely to fill your timeline (and other people’s feed, too) with you and your man’s pictures. 

The study, which was led by Lydia Emery from Northwestern University, surveyed 108 couples at a university in Canada, all of whom were listed as “in a relationship” on Facebook—including open relationships or marriages. They were asked to keep a journal and jot down their thoughts of how secure they felt in their relationship and how they interacted on Facebook. With the help of trained coders, they found that during the days when one partner was feeling romantically insecure, he or she shared more statuses, photos, or posts with or about the other partner. 

It focused on how people try to shape others’ perception of them. “When people felt more insecure about their partner's feelings, they tended to make their relationship visible.” Meanwhile, another study from Aalto University found that, while some people try to be real online, they still add fake components just to meet social expectations and maintain their “image”. Also, an Albright College study revealed that some couples use Facebook to monitor their partner’s activities to reassure themselves that everything is going well in their relationships stating, “individuals high in Relationship Contingent Self-Esteem (RCSE)–an unhealthy form of self-esteem that depends on how well your relationship is going–are also more likely to post affectionate content.”  

Assistant professor of psychology Gwendolyn Seidman, Ph.D. adds, “These results suggest that those high in RCSE feel a need to show others, their partners and perhaps themselves that their relationship is ‘okay’ and, thus, they are okay.” 

PHOTO: Flickr Creative Commons/Sai Mr.