Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T16:33:40.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Uncertainty Perspectives on Relationship Maintenance

from Part II - Theories of Relationship Maintenance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2019

By
Jennifer A. Theiss
Edited by
Brian G. Ogolsky  and
J. Kale Monk
Brian G. Ogolsky
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
J. Kale Monk
Affiliation:
University of Missouri
Get access

Summary

This chapter focuses on the ways that relational uncertainty can both shape and reflect relationship maintenance behaviors. Relational uncertainty reflects questions about the nature or degree of involvement in close relationships. Relational uncertainty can shape relationship maintenance because, under these conditions, people lack a sufficient framework to guide their own behavior or properly interpret the actions of a partner, which could prevent people from taking actions to maintain or bolster the relationship. When people fail to enact relationship maintenance, the interpersonal climate in the relationship can also give rise to increased questions and uncertainty about relational involvement. This chapter begins by reviewing the different types of uncertainty that can exist in close relationships and describes theory that explicates the role of uncertainty in interpersonal relations. Then, the chapter discusses the ways in which relational uncertainty can be an antecedent to relationship maintenance or an outcome of relationships that are not sufficiently maintained. Finally, the chapter concludes by exploring opportunities for future research on relational uncertainty and relationship maintenance.

Keywords

interdependenceinterference from partnersrelational turbulencerelational uncertaintyrelationship maintenance
Type
Chapter
Information
Relationship Maintenance
Theory, Process, and Context
 , pp. 69 - 85
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Afifi, W. A., & Burgoon, J. K. (1998). “We never talk about that”: A comparison of cross-sex friendships and dating relationships on uncertainty and topic avoidance. Personal Relationships, 5, 255–272. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00171.xGoogle Scholar
Afifi, W. A., & Metts, S. (1998). Characteristics and consequences of expectation violations in close relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 365–393. doi:10.1177/0265407598153004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baxter, L. A., & Wilmot, W. W. (1985). Taboo topics in close relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2, 253–269. doi:10.1177/0265407585023002Google Scholar
Berger, C. R. (1975). Proactive and retroactive attribution processes in interpersonal communications. Human Communication Research, 2, 33–50. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1975.tb00467.xGoogle Scholar
Berger, C. R. (1979). Beyond initial interaction: Uncertainty, understanding, and the development of interpersonal relationships. In Giles, H. & St. Clair, R. (Eds.), Language and social psychology (pp. 122–144). Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Berger, C. R. (1988). Uncertainty and information exchange in developing relationships. In Duck, S. (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 239–256). Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
Berger, C. R., & Bradac, J. J. (1982). Language and social knowledge: Uncertainty in interpersonal relationships. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Berger, C. R., & Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some exploration in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99–112. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1975.tb00258.xGoogle Scholar
Berger, C. R., & Gudykunst, W. B. (1991). Uncertainty and communication. In Dervin, B. and Voight, M. J. (Eds.), Progress in communication sciences, volume 10 (pp. 21–66). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Berscheid, E. (1983). Emotion. In Kelley, H. H., Berscheid, E., Christensen, A., Harvey, J. H., Huston, T. L., Levinger, G., … Peterson, D. R. (Eds.), Close relationships (pp. 110–168). New York, NY: Freeman.Google Scholar
Bullis, C., Clark, C., & Sline, R. (1993). From passion to commitment: Turning points in romantic relationships. In Kalbfleisch, P. (Ed.), Interpersonal communication: Evolving interpersonal relationships (pp. 213–236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Canary, D. J., & Dainton, M. A. (2006). Maintaining and repairing personal relationships. In Vangelisti, A. L. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 727–745). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Canary, D., & Stafford, L. (1992). Relationship maintenance strategies and equity in marriage. Communication Monographs, 59, 243–267. doi:10.1080/03637759209376268Google Scholar
Canary, D. J., & Zelley, E. D. (2000). Current research programs on relational maintenance behaviors. Communication Yearbook, 23, 305–339. doi:10.1080/23808985.2000.11678976Google Scholar
Dainton, M. (2003). Equity and uncertainty in relational maintenance. Western Journal of Communication, 67, 164–186. doi:10.1080/10570310309374765Google Scholar
Dainton, M., & Aylor, B. (2001). A relational uncertainty analysis of jealousy, trust, and the maintenance of long-distance versus geographically-close relationships. Communication Quarterly, 49, 172–188. doi:10.1080/01463370109385624Google Scholar
Dainton, M., & Aylor, B. A. (2002). Routine and strategic maintenance efforts: Behavioral patterns, variations associated with relational length, and the prediction of relational characteristics. Communication Monographs, 69, 52–66. doi:10.1080/03637750216533Google Scholar
Dainton, M., Goodboy, A. K., Borzea, D., & Goldman, Z. W. (2017). The dyadic effects of relationship uncertainty on negative relational maintenance. Communication Reports, 30, 170–181. doi:10.1080/08934215.2017.1282529Google Scholar
Dainton, M., & Gross, J. (2008). The use of negative behaviors to maintain relationships. Communication Research Reports, 25, 179–191. doi:10.1080/08824090802237600Google Scholar
Dainton, M., & Stafford, L. (1993). Routine maintenance behaviors: A comparison of relationship type, partner similarity and sex differences. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 255–271. doi:10.1177/026540759301000206Google Scholar
Dindia, K. (1994). A multiphasic view of relationship maintenance strategies. In Canary, D. J. & Stafford, L. (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 91–114). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Dindia, K., & Canary, D. J. (1993). Definitions and theoretical perspectives on maintaining relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 163–173. doi:10.1177/026540759301000201Google Scholar
Duck, S. W. (1994). Steady as (s)he goes: Relational maintenance as a shared meaning system. In Canary, D. J. & Stafford, L. (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 45–60). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Emmers, T., & Canary, D. J. (1996). The effect of uncertainty reducing strategies on young couples’ relational repair and intimacy. Communication Quarterly, 44, 166–182. doi:10.1080/01463379609370008Google Scholar
Guerrero, L. K., & Chavez, A. M. (2005). Relational maintenance in cross-sex friendships characterized by different types of romantic intent: An exploratory study. Western Journal of Communication, 69, 339–358. doi:10.1080/10570310500305471CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerrero, L. K., Eloy, S. V., & Wabnik, A. I. (1993). Linking maintenance strategies to relationship development and disengagement: A reconceptualization. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 273–283. doi:10.1177/026540759301000207Google Scholar
Knobloch, L. K., & Satterlee, K. L. (2009). Relational uncertainty: Theory and application. In Afifi, T. D. & Afifi, W. A. (Eds.), Uncertainty, information management, and disclosure decisions: Theories and applications (pp. 106–127). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Knobloch, L. K., & Solomon, D. H. (1999). Measuring the sources and content of relational uncertainty. Communication Studies, 50, 261–278. doi:10.1080/10510979909388499Google Scholar
Knobloch, L. K., & Solomon, D. H. (2002). Intimacy and the magnitude and experience of episodic relational uncertainty within romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 9, 457–478. doi:10.1111/1475-6811.09406CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knobloch, L. K., & Solomon, D. H. (2004). Interference and facilitation from partners in the development of interdependence within romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 11, 115–130. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00074.xGoogle Scholar
Knobloch, L. K., & Theiss, J. A. (2011). Relational uncertainty and relationship talk within courtship: A longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model. Communication Monographs, 78, 3–26. doi:10.1080/03637751.2010.542471Google Scholar
Kruger, J., & Gilovich, T. (2004). Actions, intentions, and self-assessment: The road to self-assessment is paved with good intentions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 328–339. doi:10.1177/0146167203259932CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Monk, J. K., Vennum, A. V., Ogolsky, B. G., & Fincham, F. D. (2014). Commitment and sacrifice in emerging adult romantic relationships. Marriage and Family Review, 50, 416–434. doi:10.1080/01494929.2014.896304Google Scholar
Nagy, M. E., & Theiss, J. A. (2013). Applying the relational turbulence model to the empty nest transition: Sources of relationship change, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners. Journal of Family Communication, 13, 280–300. doi:10.1080/15267431.2013.823430Google Scholar
Ogolsky, B. (2009). Deconstructing the association between relationship maintenance and commitment: Testing two competing models. Personal Relationships, 16, 99–115. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01212.xGoogle Scholar
Ogolsky, B. G., & Bowers, J. R. (2013). A meta-analytic review of relationship maintenance and its correlates. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30, 343–367. doi:10.1177/0265407512463338CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pronin, E., Gilovich, T., & Ross, L. (2004). Objectivity in the eye of the beholder: Divergent perceptions of bias in self versus others. Psychological Review, 111, 781–799. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.111.3.781Google Scholar
Pytlak, M. A., Zerega, L. M., & Houser, M. L. (2015). Jealousy evocation: Understanding commitment, satisfaction, and uncertainty as predictors of jealousy-evoking behaviors. Communication Quarterly, 63, 310–328. doi:10.1080/01463373.2015.1039716CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusbult, C. E., Olsen, N., Davis, J. L., & Hannon, P. A. (2001). Commitment and relationship maintenance mechanisms. In Harvey, J. & Wenzel, A. (Eds.), Close relationships: Maintenance and enhancement (pp. 87–114). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Samp, J. A., & Solomon, D. H. (1998). Communicative responses to problematic events in close relationships I: The variety and facets of goals. Communication Research, 25, 66–95. doi:10.1177/009365098025001003Google Scholar
Solomon, D. H., & Knobloch, L. K. (2001). Relationship uncertainty, partner interference, and intimacy within dating relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 804–820. doi:10.1177/0265407501186004Google Scholar
Solomon, D. H., & Knobloch, L. K. (2004). A model of relational turbulence: The role of intimacy, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners in appraisals of irritations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 795–816. doi:10.1177/0265407504047838Google Scholar
Solomon, D. H., Knobloch, L. K., Theiss, J. A., & McLaren, R.M. (2016). Relational turbulence theory: Explaining variation in subjective experiences and communication within romantic relationships. Human Communication Research, 42, 507–532. doi:10.1111/hcre.12091Google Scholar
Solomon, D. H., & Theiss, J. A. (2011). Relational turbulence: What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. In Cupach, W. R. & Spitzberg, B. H. (Eds.), The dark side of close relationships II (pp. 197–216). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Solomon, D. H., Weber, K. M., & Steuber, K. R. (2010). Turbulence in relationship transitions. In Smith, S. W. & Wilson, S. R. (Eds.), New directions in interpersonal communication research (pp. 115–134). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi:10.4135/9781483349619.n6Google Scholar
Stafford, L. (2003). Maintaining romantic relationships: Summary and analysis of one research program. In Canary, D. J. & Dainton, M. (Eds.), Maintaining relationships through communication: Relational, contextual, and cultural variations (pp. 51–78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Stafford, L. (2016). Marital sanctity, relationship maintenance, and marital quality. Journal of Family Issues, 37, 119–131. doi:10.1177/0192513X13515884Google Scholar
Stafford, L., & Canary, D. J. (1991). Maintenance strategies and romantic relationship type, gender, and relational characteristics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8, 217–242. doi:10.1177/0265407591082004Google Scholar
Stafford, L., Dainton, M., & Haas, S. (2000). Measuring routine and strategic relational maintenance: Scale development, sex versus gender roles, and the prediction of relational characteristics. Communication Monographs, 67, 306–323. doi:10.1080/03637750009376512Google Scholar
Stewart, M. C., Dainton, M., & Goodboy, A. K. (2014). Maintaining relationships on Facebook: Associations with uncertainty, jealousy, and satisfaction. Communication Reports, 27, 13–26. doi:10.1080/08934215.2013.845675Google Scholar
Sunnafrank, M. (1990). Predicted outcome value and uncertainty reduction theories: A test of competing perspectives. Human Communication Research, 17, 76–103. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1990.tb00227.xGoogle Scholar
Theiss, J. A., Estlein, R., & Weber, K. M. (2013). A longitudinal assessment of relationship characteristics that predict new parents’ relationship satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 20, 216–235. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2012.01406.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theiss, J. A., & Knobloch, L. K. (2014). Relational turbulence during the post-deployment transition: Self, partner, and relationship focused turbulence. Communication Research, 41, 27–51. doi:10.1177/0093650211429285Google Scholar
Theiss, J. A., & Solomon, D. H. (2006). Coupling longitudinal data and hierarchical linear modeling to examine the antecedents and consequences of jealousy experiences in romantic relationships: A test of the relational turbulence model. Human Communication Research, 32, 469–503. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2006.00284.xGoogle Scholar
Theiss, J. A., & Solomon, D. H. (2008). Parsing the mechanisms that increase relational intimacy: The effects of uncertainty amount, open communication about uncertainty, and the reduction of uncertainty. Human Communication Research, 34, 625–654. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2008.00335.xGoogle Scholar
Theiss, J. A., & Weber, K. M. (2016, November). Antecedents and outcomes of relationship maintenance behaviors during the transition to parenthood. A paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Turner, L. H. (1990). The relationship between communication and marital uncertainty: Is “her” marriage different from “his” marriage? Women’s Studies in Communication, 13, 57–83. doi:10.1080/07491409.1990.11089746Google Scholar
Weger, H., & Emmett, M. C. (2009). Romantic intent, relationship uncertainty, and relationship maintenance in young adults’ cross-sex friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26, 964–988. doi:10.1177/0265407509347937CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, V., Curran, M., & Totenhagen, C. (2012). A daily diary study: Working to change the relationship and relational uncertainty in understanding positive relationship quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30, 132–148. doi:10.1177/0265407512453826Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×