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Discuss Duck's phase model of relationship breakdown (16 marks)
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Discuss Duck's phase model of relationship breakdown (16 marks)
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Discuss Duck’s phase model as a theory of romantic relationships (16 marks)Duck (2007) proposed the phase theory of relationship breakdown by arguing that the end of a
relationship takes time and occurs in 4 stages. The first stage in the intra-psychic phase. The
threshold is ‘I can't stand this anymore’ and the dissatisfied partner begins to worry about the
reasons for their unhappiness, focusing on their partner’s shortcomings. They are private thoughts
that may be shared with only a very close friend. They evaluate their relationship against
alternatives and think about the future. The next phase is the dyadic phase where the partner
decides that they are justified in withdrawing. It involves an interpersonal process between partners
where they can't avoid talking about the dissatisfaction anymore. There are confrontations and
dissatisfactions are shared. It is characterised by anxiety, hostility, and complaints about the lack of
equity. There are two outcomes: continue to break up or repair the relationship by deepening self-
disclosure and sharing bottled up feelings.
The next phase is the social phase where the partner decides they mean it. This phase focuses on
wider processes involving mutual friends who may pick a side as the relationship becomes public.
Gossip is shared and some friends may a reassure one partner that they're making the right decision,
while others may try and repair the relationship. The break takes on momentum driven by social
forces. The last phase is the grave dressing phase where the breakup becomes inevitable. It focuses
on the aftermath where one partner will create a story for others to hear about the cause of the
breakup, usually to save face at their partner’s expense. They also create a personal story for
themselves to live with which may differ from the public one, where traits they once saw as
endearing now become negative.
A strength of this model is the real-world application. It can be used to prevent breakups by using
repair strategies at different phases where they are most useful. For example during the intra-
psychic phase, partners should focus on the positive aspects of their partner and in the dyadic phase
they should work on their communication. This model is useful to work with during relationship
counselling. However, this model is based on research from collectivist countries. Maghaddam
(1993) suggests that relationships in collectivist countries often involve the extended family to it is
harder to end a relationship.
A limitation is that this model may be an incomplete explanation. Duck and Rollie added a 5 th stage
after the grave dressing phase called the resurrection phase. Ex-partners apply their experiences
from the recently ended relationship to future ones. They also said that progression from one phase
to the next is not inevitable, you can return to earlier phases if things improve. This suggests that
progression is not linear.
Another limitation that earlier phases are underexplained. Lots of research going into the model was
retrospective as people reported events after the breakup. The intra-psychic phase may last a long
time, meaning recall may not be accurate and reliable. This suggests that the model does not fully
explain earl stages.
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