Manifestations of Relationship Conceptualizations in Conversation

Abstract

A question fundamental to the study of interpersonal communication in close relationships is how the characteristics people associate with their relationships are evident in their conversation. We begin by explicating 3 key aspects of relationship conceptualizations: reliance on relational knowledge, interdependence, and mutual commitment. Then we advance hypotheses linking those relationship conceptualizations with features of people's content and relational messages. We report the results of a study in which 120 dating couples engaged in videotaped conversations. Findings offered modest support for our predictions regarding reliance on relational knowledge; results were less consistent with our hypotheses involving interdependence and mutual commitment. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for understanding how perceptions of relationships are apparent in conversation.

Relational Turbulence Theory: Explaining Variation in Subjective Experiences and Communication Within Romantic Relationships

“…Through its effect on dyadic synchrony, relational turbulence is likely to promote topically incoherent patterns of interaction that make it difficult for partners to develop and articulate shared goals and a plan that integrates their respective interests. Topic coherence, dyadic pronoun use, and turn‐taking fluency are examples of possible indices of these processes (e.g., Knobloch, ; Knobloch & Solomon, ). In sum, we predict that relational turbulence undermines collaborative planning.…”

A dyadic assessment of how couples indicate their commitment to each other

“…Relational communication carries both content and relationship messages and is the mechanism through which partners interpret each other’s actions (Dillard, Solomon, & Palmer, 1999). Partners are more inclined to engage in relationship talk when they are mutually committed (Knobloch & Solomon, 2003). Accordingly, commitment becomes relational when communicated in some way to one’s partner (Ballard‐Reisch & Weigel, 1999; Knapp & Taylor, 1994).…”

Am “I” more important than “we”? Couples’ word use in instant messages

“…Highly committed partners use “we” pronouns more frequently when writing about their romantic relationships compared to less committed ones (Agnew, Van Lange, Rusbult, & Langston, 1998). Nonetheless, in the small handful of published studies that have examined language use during interactions between romantic partners, the use of “we” surprisingly showed no association with relationship satisfaction (Sillars et al, 1997; Simmons et al, 2005) and only a marginal association with relational interdependence (Knobloch & Solomon, 2003).…”