Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Role of Theory in the Examination of Relationship Loss

  • Chapter
Close Relationship Loss

Abstract

Despite the momentous human tragedies played out in the loss of relationships throughout recorded (and probably unrecorded) time, scholarly work on the topic was limited until the decade of the 1980s opened up a more general interest (Baxter, 1984; Baxter & Philpott, 1980; Lee, 1984; Metts, Cupach, & Bejlovec, 1989). Earlier work invariably focused only on divorce, and the first scholarly book devoted entirely to the general topic of dissolving personal relationships was not published until 1982 (Duck, 1982).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Albrecht, T. L., & Adelman, M. B. (and associates). (1987). Communicating social support. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altman, I. (1989). Transactional contexts for relationships in a religious community. Paper presented to the second conference of the International Network on Personal Relationships, Iowa City, IA, May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antaki, C. (1987). Performed and unperformable: A guide to accounts of relationships. In R. Burnett, P. McGee, & D. Clarke (Eds.), Accounting for relationships (pp. 97–113). London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Athanasiou, R., & Sarkin, R. (1974). Premarital sexual behaviour and postmarital adjustment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 3, 207–225.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, L. A. (1984). Trajectories of relationship disengagement. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 29–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, L. A. (1985). Accomplishing relationship disengagement. In S. W. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships (pp. 243–265). London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, L. A., & Philpott, J. (1980, November). Relationship disengagement: A process view. Paper presented at the meeting of the Speech Communication Assocation, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazerman, C. (1987). Codifying the social scientific style: The APA Publication Manual as a behaviorist rhetoric. In J. S. Nelson, A. Megill, & D. N. McCloskey (Eds.), The rhetoric of the human sciences: Language and argument in scholarship and Public Affairs (pp. 125–144). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, C. R (1988). Uncertainty and information exchange in developing relationships. In S. W. Duck, D. F. Hay, S. E. Hobfoll, W. Ickes, & B. Montgomery (Eds.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 239–256). Chichester, England: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, C. R., & Bradac, J. (1982). Language and social knowledge. London: Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnett, R. (1987). Reflection in personal relationships. In R. Burnett, P. McGee, & D. Clarke (Eds.), Accounting for relationships (pp. 74–93). London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappella, J. N. (1988). Personal relationships, social relationships and patterns of interaction. In S. W. Duck, D. F. Hay, S. E. Hobfoll, W. Ickes, & B. M. Montgmery (Eds.), Handbook of Personal Relationships (pp. 325–342) Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christopher, F. S., & Frandsen, M. (1990). Strategies of influence in sex and dating. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clore, G. L., & Byrne, D. (1974). A reinforcement affect model of attraction. In T. L. Huston (Ed.), Foundations of interpersonal attraction (pp. 174–196). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1980). Personal relationships research in the 1980s: Towards an understanding of complex human sociality. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 44, 114–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1981). Toward a research map for the study of relationship breakdown. In S. W. Duck & R. Gilmour (Ed.), Personal relationships 3: Personal relationships in disorder (pp. 1–29). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1982). A topography of relationship disengagement and dissolution. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 1–30). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1985). Social and personal relationships. In M. L. Knapp & G. R. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 655–686). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1986). Human relationships. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1988). Relating to others. Monterey, CA: Dorsey/Brooks/Cole/Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1990). Relationships as unfinished business: Out of the frying pan and into the 1990s. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 5–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W. (1991). Friends, for life, revised second edition Harvester-Wheatsheaf: Hemel Hempstead, UK [Published in USA as Understanding Relationships, New York: Guilford.].

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W., & Miell, D. E. (1986). Charting the development of personal relationships. In R. Gilmour & S. W. Duck (Eds.), Emerging field of personal relationships (pp. 133–143). Hillsdale, NJ: LEA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W., & Pond, K. (1989). Friends, Romans, countrymen: Lend me your retrospective data: Rhetoric and reality in personal relationships. In C. Hendrick (Ed.), Review of social psychology and personality: Vol. 10. Close Relationships (pp. 3–27). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duck, S. W., & Sants, H. K. A. (1983). On the origin of the specious: Are personal relationships really interpersonal states? Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1, 27–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fincham, F. D., & Bradbury, T. N. (1989). The impact of attributions in marriage: an individual difference analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 69–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottman J. M. (1979). Marital interaction: Experimental investigations. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graziano, W., & Matter Musser, L. (1982). The joining and the parting of the ways. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 75–106). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O., & Smyer, M. A. (1982). Dissolving long-term relationships: Patterns of divorcing in middle age. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 155–187). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helgeson, V.S., Shaver, P. R., & Dyer, M. (1987). Prototypes of intimacy and distance in same-sex and opposite-sex relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 4, 195–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, C. T., Rubin, Z., & Peplau, L. A. (1976). Breakups before marriage: The end of 103 affairs. Journal of Social Issues, 32, 147–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huston, T., Surra, C., Fitzgerald, N., & Cate, R. (1981). From courtship to marriage: Mate selection as an interpersonal process. In S. W. Duck & R. Gilmour (Eds.), Personal relationships 2: Developing personal relationships (pp. 53–88). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. (1982). Social and cognitive features of dissolving commitment to relationships. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 51–74). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Gaipa, J. J. (1982). Rules and rituals in disengaging from relationships. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 189–209). Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, L. (1984). Sequences in separation: A framework for investigating the endings of personal (romantic) relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 49–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, S. A., & Cate, R. M. (1985). The developmental course of conflict in dissolution of premarital relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2, 179–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markman, H. J., Duncan, S. W., Storaasli, R. D., & Howes, P. W. (1987). The prediction and prevention of marital distress: A longitudinal investigation. In K. Hahlweg & M. J. Goldstein (Eds.), Understanding major mental disorder: The contribution of family interaction research (pp. 266–289) New York: Family Process Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, G. (1982). Becoming unrelated: The management of bond dissolution. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 211–232). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee, M. C., & Lyne, J. (1987). What are nice folks like you doing in a place like this? Some entailments of treating knowledge claims rhetorically. In J. S. Nelson, A. Megill, & D. N. McCloskey (Eds.), The rhetoric of the human sciences: Language and argument in scholarship and public affairs (pp. 381–406). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metts, S., Cupach, W., & Bejlovec, R. A. (1989). “I love you too much to ever start liking you”: Redefining romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 259–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miell, D. E. (1987). Remembering relationship development: Constructing a context for interaction. In R. Burnett, P. McGee, & D. Clarke (Eds.), Accounting for relationships (pp. 60–73). London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milardo, R. M. (1982). Friendship networks in developing relationships: Converging and diverging social environments. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 163–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. L., & Parks, M. R. (1982). Communication in dissolving relationships. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 127–154). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. (1990). Metaphors in long distance relationships. Unpublished manuscript, University of Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B. I., & Glaudin, V. (1968). The use of the MMPI in the determination of marital maladjustment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 30, 651–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noller, P. (1984). Nonverbal communcation and marital interaction. New York: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noller, P., & Venardos, C. (1986). Communication awareness in married couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3, 31–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, D. H. (1977). Insiders’ and outsiders’ views of relationships: Research studies. In G. Levinger & H. Raush (Eds.), Close relationships: Perspectives on the meaning of intimacy (pp. 115–135). Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks, M., & Adelman, M. (1983). Communication networks and the development of romantic relationships: An expansion of uncertainty reduction theory. Human Communication Research, 10, 55–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. A. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. In S. W. Duck & R. Gilmour (Eds.), Personal Relationships 3: Personal Relationships in Disorder (pp. 31–56). London & New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Planalp, S., Rutherford, D. K., & Honeycutt, J. M. (1988). Events that increase uncertainty in personal relationships II: Replication and extension. Human Communication Research, 14, 516–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reis, H. T., & Shaver, P. R. (1988). Intimacy as an interpersonal process. In S. W. Duck, D. F. Hay, S. E. Hobfoll, W. Ickes, & B. M. Montgomery (Eds.), Handbook of personal relationships: Theory, research and interventions (pp. 367–389). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, S., & Serafica, F. C. (1986). Keeping and ending casual, close, and best friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3, 275–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblatt, P. C. (1983). Bitter, bitter tears: Nineteenth century diarists and twentieth century grief theories. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rusbult, C. E. (1991). Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect. Paper presented to the third conference of the International Network on Personal Relationships, Normal, IL, May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shotter, J. (1987). Accounting for relationship growth. In R. Burnett, P. McGhee, & D. Clarke (Eds.), Accounting for relationships (pp. 157–181). Methuen: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzberg, B. H., & Cupach, W. (1985). Interpersonal communication competence. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surra, C. A., Arizzi, P., & Asmussen, L. (1988). The association between reasons for commitment and the development and outcome of marital relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 47–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, A., Harvey, J. H., & Stanley, M. A. (1987). The nature and motivations of accounts for failed relationships. In R. Burnett, P. McGhee, & D. D. Clarke (Eds.),Accounting for relationships (pp. 114–133). London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, J. P. (1989, May). Friends and enemies: Are they opposites? Paper presented at the Iowa Conference on Personal Relationships, Iowa City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. H. (1985). The Acquaintance Description Form. In S. W. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships (pp. 39–62). London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer, T. A. (1986). Premarital anxieties. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3, 149–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Steve Duck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, USA

    Terri L. Orbuch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Duck, S. (1992). The Role of Theory in the Examination of Relationship Loss. In: Orbuch, T.L. (eds) Close Relationship Loss. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9186-9_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9186-9_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-9188-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-9186-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation