Separating and joining influences in courtship and early marriage.

Abstract

Transitional processes, such as getting married, are described in terms of the interaction of change‐facilitating and change‐resisting social forces. Lawful features of a transitional process include a non‐arbitrary sequence of stages defined by reversals in the influence of particular classes of third party events.

Attributional confidence, perceived similarity, and network involvement in Chinese and American romantic relationships

“…Studies of married couples, on the other hand, suggest a positive correlation between parental approval and marital adjustment (e.g., Burr, 1973). The social reaction and designation of partners as a "couple" tend to reinforce romantic involvement (Lewis, 1973;Ryder, To summarize, the foregoing review of research suggests that attributional confidence, perceived similarity, and network involvement are important indicators of stages of relationship development. Specifically, attributional confidence tends to increase as a relationship becomes more intimate.…”

Interpersonal Attraction and Relationships

“…Theoretical models of relationship development (198,225,268,296) have primar ily dealt with courtship and marriage. Several recent models (10,136,140,181,191,195,271), however, have attempted to construct generic conceptions of pair forma tion and maintenance.…”

Boundaries as Distance Regulators in Personal Relationships

“…Closeness has within it the seeds of ensuing distance, as described by Ryder et al . (34). De Rougement's (10) far more severe view is that romance is intrinsically a quest for death.…”

“…They then discover “too late” that the feeling of safety has permitted them to slip unaware into a serious relationship. Ryder, Kafka and Olson (34) suggest that courtships leading to marriage often begin in this way.…”

“…The theory outlined some time ago by Ryder et al . (34), however, is amenable to restatement in boundary terms. Their stages are as follows:…”