Ghosting Explained: Know what it means to Ghost and to be Ghosted

When you are in relationship, everything looks good, but suddenly, without any warming, you find your partner has been disappeared. You would also notice, there is no phone calls, no text messages, no connection made on the social media and even when you try to message, there is no response from his/her end to any of your messages. Odds are, your partner has definitely not left the town due to family emergency neither he/she is lying dead in a ditch somewhere, but rather, they have simply ended the relationship without much bothering to explain or even let you know. You have been ghosted.

Who ghosts and who gets ghosted?

Firstly, one needs to understand as to why would someone chose to simply disappear from another person's life, rather than plan, at minimum, a conversation to end a relationship? You might never know for sure why you were ghosted. While more studies require to be done specifically on the ghosting phenomenon, past research has looked at different types of attachment personalities and choice of breakup strategies. It is possible that people with an avoidant type personality (those who hesitate to form or completely avoid attachments to others, often as a result of parental rejection). Who are reluctant to get very close to anyone else due to trust and dependency issues and often use indirect methods of ending relationships, are more likely to use ghosting to initiate a break-up.

As per one study, it suggests that people who tend to end relationships often been ghosted themselves. In that case, the ghoster knows what it feels like t have a relationship end abruptly, with no explanation, no room for discussion. Yet, they seemingly show no empathy towards the other and might or might not experience any feeling of guilt for their ghosting behaviour.

What it means to Ghost and to be Ghosted?

Ghosting is by no means limited to long-term romantic relationships. Informal dating relationships, friendships, even work relationships might end with a form of ghosting. For the person who does the ghosting, simply walk away from a relationship or even a potential relationship is a quick and easy way out. No drama, no hysterics, no questions asked, no need to offer answers or justify any of their behaviour, no need to deal with someone else feeling. Certainly, while the ghoster might benefit from avoiding an uncomfortable situation and any potential dram, they have nothing to improve their own conversation and relationship skills for the future.