A Research Report On

By: Arienne L. Longstreth

Leslie Baxter and Eric Simon are from the University of California and are the authors of the article that I am researching. In this article they explain what the mechanics of relational dialectics are. I will explain what important research they did in the latter portions of this page.

Basically what they researched in their article was what the two parties involved in a romantic relationship do in general to maintain it. They go about his by adopting a dialectical perspective. Or a perspective derived from two polar opposites. An example would be Openness- Closedness.

Relationship maintenance is the process of sustaining a relationships quality, or keeping both members involved satisfied. There is no real and total maintenance stability in a relationship, only periods of equilibrium that are only moments in a pattern of continual change in the relationship. There will always be ups and downs in a relationships and there is no total period of stability. Change is inherent.

There are three fundamental dialectical contradictions in a relationship. They are

1. Autonomy- Connection

2. Predictability- Novelty

3. Openness- Closedness

When speaking of Autonomy Connection, it is when the relationship requires the two parties to sacrifice some of their individual independence and all the while maintain their own individuality. Both of theses needs of the relationship must be fulfilled. Breakups often occur when there is too much of one of the aspects and not enough of the other.

The Predictability- Novelty dialectic suggest that to maintain a successful relationship you must reduce your uncertainty about a person but yet keep some mystery involved in the relationship. Excessive predictability tends to make a relationship boring, or deaden the emotional aspect of the relationship.

The third dialectic is the one of Openness- Closedness. This suggests that two partners need to be aware of how much information they share with the other party. Too much of one and not enough of the other can lead to a break up.

The two poles of a dialectic are in constant motion with each other. Domination is the central catalyst for change. There is always a domination of one aspect of a dialect over another (superiority-inferiority).

Baxter and Simon sought to examine certain relationship maintenance patterns that participants undergo at varying dialectical moments in their romantic or marital relationships. They went about this by developing 6 hypotheses having to do with the 3 pair of dialectics discussed earlier. These hypotheses sought to prove that when a certain dialectical pole is dominant in a relationship, then there will be a positive reaction when the opposite dialectical pole is utilized more often in that relationship(Baxter & Simon,235).

The Method

Baxter and Simon gathered 162 romantic and married different sex couples to complete their survey. On this survey they included 6 test sections. They consisted of: Connection, Novelty, Predictability, Openness, Closedness, and Autonomy.

The scores in each of these test groups were calculated. Then various statistical tests were completed to find the results.

The Results

Of Baxter and Simon's 6 test sections 4 of them applied to and supported 3 of the 6 hypotheses(Baxter & Simon,239). So, overall, this study provides tentative support that relationships with an excess of autonomy, predictability, and closedness are common dialectical problems experienced by couples and with utilization of their dialectical poles, a positive reaction will occur in the relationship.

Works Cited Griffin, Em. A First Look at Communication Theory. 3rd Ed. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Baxter, Leslie and E.P. Simon. "Relationship Maintenance Strategies

and Dialectical Contradiction in Personal Relationships."

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships Vol. 10

(1993): 225-242.

Click here to visit a page dedicated to Social Judgement Theory. Like Relational Dialectics, Social Judgement Theoy deals with imbalance.

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