Theories of Relationships - DUCK'S PHASE MODEL Flashcards
what is Duck’s phase/breakdown model?
Explanation of stages people go through when relationship doesn’t work / breaksdown
Duck says that..
Breakdown is not a one off event but a gradual process of distinct phases.
What are the 4 breakdown stages marked by?
A threshold that a partner/relationship reaches when the partners perception of the relationship changes and they become dissatisfied.
What are the 4 breakdown stages?
- Intra-psychic stage
- Dyadic stage
- Social stage
- Grave-dressing stage
Intra-psychic stage
- Internal
- Threshold = ‘I can’t stand it anymore’.
- Cognative
- Individual
- You weighing up pros and cons of the relationship.
Dyadic Stage
- Talk to the person about it
- Threshold = ‘if i withdraw from the relationship then it’s justified’.
- Speak to partner
- Discuss dissatisfactions
- Will either cause breakdown
- Or will be a rescue attempt (a determination to save relationship)
Social Stage
- Tell friends about breakup
- Threshold = ‘I mean it’
- Involve both peoples social network
- Family, friends
- Difficult for mutual friends - picking sides
- People start to put blame on one
- Gossipy
- Others will give opinions and advice
- Point of no return
Grave dressing stage
- Try to make oneself look better from the break up
- Threshold = inevitable - done forever
- Relationship over - the aftermath
- Spinning a story to make you sound better
- Blaming other people - so you can live with it (especially if you’re the cheater)
- Want to justify their behaviour
Resurrection stage
(added in 2016)
Applying your experience from previous relationships to help later relationships.
4 evaluation points for Duck’s phase model
+ Useful real-life application
- Methodological issues
- Description rather than explanation
- Cultural bias
Useful real life application
P - a strength is that it allow us to identify and understand stages of relationship breakdown and ways of reversing it.
E - recognises that different repair strategies are more effective in different parts in breakdown.
E - Duck says in intra-psychic stage can focus brooding on positive aspects of their partner for greater stability in the relationship.
L - increase practical application as such insights can be used in relationship counselling.
Methodological issues
P -a weakness of Duck’s research model is that it is retrospective.
E - ppts give exp of breakdown after it has ended.
E - therefore what they recall might lack reliability and validity and could be bias, also impossible to study early stages as researchers involvement could worsen things.
L - Duck’s model based on research that ignores early part of process, decreases reliability as researcher imposition can occur.
Description rather than an explanation
P - a weakness of Duck’s model is that it lacks explanatory power (how rather than why breakdown occurs).
E - Flemlee’s fatal attraction hypothesis argues that causes of relationship breakdown can be found in attractive qualities that bought partners together.
E - partners get too much of what they were looking for e.g. good banter can lead to someone not taking things seriously.
L - offers a better alternative exp of why relationships break down rather than what happens during it.
I&D - Carry on argument of why its a weakness
Gender bias
Culture bias
reductionist
Cultural bias
P - a weakness of Duck’s phase model is that has cultural bias.
E - Moghaddam et al found relationships in individualist cultures are voluntary and freq come to an end, whereas in collectivist cultures they are more likely to be obligatory and less easy to end.
E - this can be due to involvement from the wider family or arranged marriage.
L - the whole conception of romantic relationships differs between cultures, therefore it is unlikely the process of breakdown will be the same.
