Relational progression as a dialectic: Examining turning points in communication among friends

TLDR

The study proposes that relationship development can be conceptualized as a dialectic. The authors examined friendships at three intimacy levels—casual, close, and best—to test the dialectic hypothesis. More than half of the examined friendships followed dialectic patterns, revealing five trajectories with shared activities as common turning points, and a negative association between the number of turning points and satisfaction among casual friends.

Abstract

Abstract This study claims that relationship development can be viewed as a dialectic. Evidence for this hypothesis is obtained by examining friendships of three different intimacy levels: casual, close, and best friends. Over one-half of the friendships examined exhibited patterns of recalled relational development predicted by viewing development as a dialectic. Five trajectories for friendships were found. The most commonly reported turning points consisted of activities that the friends shared. Few differences were found between casual, close, and best friends; however, number of turning points was negatively related to satisfaction for casual friends. Implications for the conceptualization of relational development and interpersonal communication research are discussed.