Digital “ghosting” foregrounds a classic debate in emotion theory: whether emotions are biologically determined states or socially and culturally constructed phenomena. Drawing on critical realism, this working paper develops a stratified account of digitally mediated heartbreak with three interacting strata: biological mechanisms, environmental and epigenetic calibration, and socio‑cultural construction. Using ghosting as a worked example, it critiques basic emotion, appraisal, constructionist, interactionist and sociological theories, arguing that attempts to assign a single dominant level of explanation misframe the problem. The paper concludes with testable predictions and clinical implications for assessing and treating digital rupture, and for platform‑level design responsibilities. This working paper originated as a graded undergraduate essay in Psychology of Emotion (University of East London, 2026) and has been lightly revised to remove assessment‑specific material and add an abstract, keywords and minor clarifications for public sharing. It is not peer‑reviewed and should be cited as a working paper.
Vince j. de Blauwe (Tue,) studied this question.