The phenomenon of ghosting in digital communication

In recent years, the concept of ghosting has gained attention in both every day and academic communication. Scholars define it as the interruption of communication initiated by one person (temporary or permanent), with the intention of limiting or completely severing contact with individuals who negatively impact the relationship, often accomplished using one or more technological channels (LeFebvre et al., 2019). This paper analyzes scientific articles on the phenomenon of ghosting, published in full on Google Scholar between 2017 and 2024. The corpus was narrowed to 50 freely available full-text articles from humanities fields, including psychology, communication, and language studies, and categorized into four thematic groups: articles focusing on personality traits, articles centered on individual characteristics, studies examining motivation, and research addressing the consequences of ghosting. Research indicates that ghosting is driven by personal characteristics, coping styles, and the ease of ending contact in digital environments, while at the same time producing a range of negative emotional reactions, especially in long-term relationships and friendships. The research findings indicate that ghosting is a multidimensional phenomenon that can be explained only when all relevant factors are considered, including individual traits, motivation, consequences, and contextual influences. Furthermore, the study highlights the need for a more precise definition of the phenomenon itself, as it manifests differently depending on the goals of individuals who employ this abrupt communication-termination style and on the victim’s perception.