relationships: ducks phase model ao3 Flashcards
Real life applications
P: A strength of the model is that it not only helps is to identify and understand the stages of relationship breakdown but also suggests various ways of reversing it, which could be highly beneficial in relationships counselling.
E: The Model is especially useful because it recognises that different repair strategies are more effective at particular points in the breakdown than others.
E: For example, Duck (1994) recommends that people in the intra - psychic phase could be encouraged to focus their brooding on the positive aspects of their partner. Also, as a feature of the dyadic phases communication, any attempt to improve this and perhaps improve wider social skills could be beneficial in fostering greater stability in the relationship. Neither of these strategies is likely to be of much use in the later phases of the breakdown.
L: This shows that ducks model of relationship breakdown can we used successfully to help couples contemplating breakup to improve their relationships and stay together.
Retrospective data
P: A limitation of most of the research examining relationship breakdown is based on retrospective data, using questionnaires or interviews to ask participants about the break-up some time after it happened.
E: People’s memories of the event may not be accurate, and may also be coloured by their current situation, which means that their answers are not reliable. It is usually the very early stages of breakdown that tend to the most distorted or ignored altogether.
E: Unfortunately it is almost impossible to study the point at which problems first appear. Researchers are very reluctant to study relationships at this early point because their involvement could make things worse, and even hasten the end of the relationship that might otherwise have been rescued
L: This means that part of Duck’s model is based on research that ignores this early part of the process so is an incomplete description of how relationships end
Incomplete model
P: according to rollie and duck 2006 the model is incomplete
E: they modified the model and added in a fifth phase - the resurrection phrase, in which ex partners turn their attention to future relationships, using the experiences gained from their recently ended one.
E: Existence of the resurrection stage was supported by Tashiro and Frazier (2003), who found that participants (undergraduates who had recently experienced a break-up) reported experiencing personal growth as a result of it, as well as emotional distress. Furthermore they make it clear that progression through the stages is not inevitable and it is possible to return to an earlier stages at any point rather than assuming linear progression from one phase to the next.
L: These changes overcomes the original weaknesses of the model including the fact that it does not account for the dynamic nature of break-ups with all their inherent uncertainty and complexity.
Culture bias
P: A problem with the model is that it is based on relationships from individualist cultures, where ending the relationships is a voluntary choice, and separation and divorce are easily obtainable and do not carry stigma.
E: However, this may not be the case in collectivist cultures.
E: In such cultures, relationships are sometimes arranged by wider family members, and characterised by greater family involvement. This makes the relationship difficult to end, which means that the break-up process will not follow the phases proposed by Duck.
L: As a result, Duck’s model is culturally biased as it assumes that break-up process is universal, which is clearly not the case.
