Attribution in the Termination of Close Relationships: A Special Focus on the Account

Harvey, John H.; Weber, Ann L.; Galvin, Kathryn S.; Huszti, Heather C.; Garnick, Nettie N.

doi:10.4324/9781003164005-16

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Social processes begin as ex-partners notify their networks of the breakup (Duck, 1982). Ex-partners begin crafting multiple public accounts of the breakup that meet their needs (e.g., saving face, attributing blame, obtaining social support, getting shared ties to take sides; Harvey et al, 1986) while withstanding scrutiny (Duck, 1982; Duck & Wood, 2006). They may need to confront external barriers to the dissolution, such as pressure from friends or family to stay together.…”

Section: Relationship Dissolution Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People develop accounts to describe and explain life events and experiences (Harvey et al, 1990). Researchers have examined the role of accounts in many stressful life events, including romantic dissolution (e.g., Cody et al, 1992;Harvey et al, 1986;Weiss, 1975). Most of this research, however, has focused on private or interpersonal accounts.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Accounts may include attributions about the breakup, such as why it happened and who is to blame (Cody et al, 1992;Cupach & Metts, 1986). People need accounts to promote acceptance of the breakup, enable detachment from the partner, and create a coherent narrative for the self and others (Harvey et al, 1986;Weiss, 1975). Ex-partners may share their accounts to persuade common social ties to take their side in the breakup (Weiss, 1975).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Romantic relationship dissolution on social networking sites: Self-Presentation and public accounts of breakups on Facebook

Fox

Frampton

Jones

et al. 2021

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Social media users post an endless stream of life updates, commentary, and other content. This online self-presentation constitutes a narrative that can be examined as a shared account. In this study, we tested the applicability of Duck’s model of relational dissolution (Duck, 1982; Rollie & Duck, 2006) to participants’ personal and public accounts of their romantic breakups on social networking sites (also referred to as social network sites). We adopted mixed methods (content analysis, survey, and interview) to examine emerging adults’ ( N = 97) account-making during romantic relationship dissolution and the role of social media, specifically Facebook, in the process. Over 3500 posts and comments from before and after users’ breakups were quantitatively and qualitatively content analyzed. Synthesizing these three data sources revealed patterns regarding users’ selective self-presentation in masspersonal channels. Their dissolution accounts were shaped by perceptions of Facebook’s social affordances, such as the visibility and persistence of posts, comments, and relational artifacts; social feedback (e.g., comments and “likes” from the online social network, usually for social support); conversational control (e.g., blocking and defriending); and network association, which created a diverse imagined audience and context collapse. Findings suggest that some of Duck’s relational dissolution model manifests on social media, particularly social, gravedressing, and resurrection processes. Users consider and capitalize on perceived affordances of computer-mediated communication channels to construct, curate, or avoid public accounts of their breakups. Our study also provides a methodological framework for investigating user experiences and selective self-presentation on social media over time synthesizing quantitative and qualitative methods.

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Section: Relationship Dissolution Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Romantic relationship dissolution on social networking sites: Self-Presentation and public accounts of breakups on Facebook

Fox

Frampton

Jones

et al. 2021

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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People's Accounts Count: The Sociology of Accounts

1997

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Humans are inexorably driven to search for order and meaning in their own and others' lives; accounts are a major avenue for sociologists to depict and understand the ways in which individuals experience and identify with that meaning and their social world. The accounts concept has a solid foundation and history in early sociological analysis and research. The current work on accounts focuses on “story-like” interpretations or explanations and their functions and consequences to a social actor's life. The concept is useful for gaining insight into the human experience and arriving at meanings or culturally embedded normative explanations. This concept deserves greater explicit attention in sociology and is in need of further theoretical development and stimulation. I argue that sociologists should embrace the concept of accounts; the foundation is set for a resurgence of work on accounts in sociology.

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Attribution in the Termination of Close Relationships: A Special Focus on the Account

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Romantic relationship dissolution on social networking sites: Self-Presentation and public accounts of breakups on Facebook

Romantic relationship dissolution on social networking sites: Self-Presentation and public accounts of breakups on Facebook

People's Accounts Count: The Sociology of Accounts

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