Duck's Breakdown Model Flashcards
Phase model
Break up isn’t a one-off event.
Process of stages which takes time.
Phases start when dissatisfaction occurs.
Each phase has a different focus but all involve reaching a threshold where their perception of the relationship changes.
Phase 1: intra-psychic
Personal brooding.
Threshold: “I can’t stand this anymore” - determination that something has to change.
Cognitive process.
Broods particularly about their partner’s shortcomings.
Mulls privately, may share with a trusted friend.
Weigh up pros and cons, evaluate against alternatives.
Begin to make plans about the future.
Phase 2: dyadic
Threshold: conclude that they would be “justified in withdrawing’.
Interpersonal process between two partners.
Can’t avoid talking about their RS any longer.
Confrontations characterised by hostility, anxiety, lack of effort, resentment about imbalance roles and rethinking commitment.
Two outcomes: 1) determination to break up OR 2) renewed desire to repair it.
If rescue attempt fails, the threshold repeats.
Phase 3: social
Threshold: dissatisfied partner concludes “I mean it’.
Wider process - couple’s social networks.
Break up made public so partners seek support.
Mutual friends expected to choose a side, includes gossiping.
Friends either judge or reassure.
Friends may reveal secrets to speed up the breakdown.
Usually the point of no return.
Phase 4: grave-dressing
Threshold: “It’s now inevitable”.
Aftermath.
Spinning a favourable story for the public to ‘save face’ usually at the expense of the other partner, making them look bad.
Each partner tries to gain ‘social credit’ (La Gaipa) by blaming everyone / anything but themselves.
Personal story differs to public one.
Rewiring memories - the traits you once found endearing now bring irritation.
May let bygones be bygones and admit that they weren’t compatible.
+ P - Evidence to support the benefits of the grave-dressing phrase
E - Tashiro and Frazier - surveyed undergrads who had recently broken up with a romantic partner.
E - They often reported that they had experienced emotional distress and personal growth. Breaking up with their partners had given them new insights into themselves and a clearer idea about what they want from future partners. They found that focusing on the personal situation and not personal flaws helped individuals to come better as there was less threat to their psychological well-being.
L - This implies Duck’s phase model can be useful in helping people go through relationship breakdowns and can be used to explain behaviour during that time.
+ P - Oversimplified
E - Rollie and Duck suggested a fifth stage of the model called the ‘resurrection phase’.
E - This is where individuals learn from the experiences of their past experiences. However, these researchers also suggest that a relationship breakdown model should be a dynamic progression as opposed to a set sequence of stages through which all people pass through. The social dynamics within each stage can also affect the chances of ex-partners reuniting, such as the spreading of rumours during the dyadic or social phases.
L - This means that Duck’s model may be
oversimplified and has little ecological validity because it cannot represent the progression of real-life relationships.
- P - Lacks ecological validity
E - Flemlee’s ‘fatal attraction hypothesis’ may be a better and more valid explanation of relationship breakdown compared to the Phase Model.
E - This is because the fatal attraction hypothesis, which suggests that the initially desirable characteristics become less so as the relationship progresses, actually explains the cause of relationship breakdown as opposed to simply the progression of the breakdown (as the Phase Model does)
L - This means that Duck’s model may lack
ecological validity because it is a general description of a universal sequence of stages involved in relationship breakdown, as opposed to a concrete explanation.
