Editing Breakup (section)

==Models==
Several [[psychological]] models have been proposed to explain the process of a relationship breakup, many suggesting that relationship dissolution occurs in stages.<ref>Harvey, p. 106</ref>

[[Mark L. Knapp]], a foundational scholar on the subject of interpersonal relationships, created a model called [[Knapp's relational development model]]. He describes two separate phases of relationships, coming together and coming apart.

The coming together phase is meant to be long-term, beginning in the initiation phase and becoming deeper with time and intimacy. In the coming apart phase, differentiating begins. This is when the individuals began noticing differences that may seem unnegotiable or place pressure on the relationship. This leads to circumscribing where the individuals begin to pull apart, set boundaries, and have their own independent lives. This may cause issues to arise. At this point, the relationship reaches stagnation where the couple stays together for other reasons rather than their will to do so. Examples include children. The next stage is avoidance in which the individuals try to stay away from each other as much as possible. They, then, reach termination, where the relationship is over and they go their separate ways.

===Stages leading to a breakup===
L. Lee<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lee, L. |title=Sequences in Separation: A Framework for Investigating Endings of the Personal (Romantic) Relationship |journal=Journal of Social and Personal Relationships |year=1984 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=49–73 |doi=10.1177/0265407584011004 |s2cid=145774694 }}</ref> proposes that there are five stages ultimately leading up to a breakup.
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# Dissatisfaction: one or both partners grow dissatisfied with relationship
# Exposure: both partners mutually become aware of problems in relationship
# Negotiation: both partners attempt to negotiate solutions to problems
# Resolution and transformation: both partners apply outcome of their negotiation
# Termination: proposed resolution fails to rectify issues and no further solutions are accepted or applied
}}

===Cycle of a breakup===
Steve Duck outlines a six-stage cycle of relationship breakup:<ref>Steve Duck et al., ''The Basics of Communications'' (2011) p. 151 Table 6.2</ref>
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# Dissatisfaction with relationship
# Social withdrawal
# Discussion of reasons for discontentment
# Going public
# Tidying up of memories
# Recreating sense of social value
}}

===Factors that predict a breakup before marriage===
Hill, Rubin and Peplau<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hill|first=Charles T.|author2=Rubin Zick|author3=Peplau Letita Anne|title=Breakups Before Marriage: The End of 103 Affairs|journal=Journal of Social Issues|year=1976|volume=32|pages=147–168|doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.1976.tb02485.x}}</ref> identify five factors that predict breakup before marriage:
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# Unequal involvement in the relationship
# Age difference
# Different educational aspirations
# Difference in intelligence
# Difference in physical attractiveness
}}

=== Cascade Model of Relational Dissolution ===
[[John Gottman|Gottman]] and Levenson (1994) outline the [[Cascade Model of Relational Dissolution]], in which four negative nonverbal behaviors lead to the breakdown of a marriage/relationship:<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of interpersonal communication|date=2002|publisher=SAGE Publications|others=Knapp, Mark L., Daly, John A. (John Augustine), 1952-|isbn=0761921605|edition= 3rd|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|oclc=49942207}}</ref>

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# [[Criticism]]
# [[Defence mechanisms|Defensiveness]]
# [[Contempt]]
# [[Stonewalling]]
# [[Suspicion (emotion)|Suspicious]]
}}