Date of Award

Summer 2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication & Theatre Arts

Program/Concentration

Lifespan and Digital Communication

Committee Director

Thomas Socha

Committee Member

Gary Beck

Committee Member

Frances Hassencahl

Abstract

Building on the extant research of on-again/off-again (on-off) romantic relationships, the current thesis focused on building upon past findings by utilizing a unique theoretical methodology in an emerging demographic. A sample of 22 emergent adult (ages 18-29) participants who were currently in or had recently experienced an on-off relationship completed face-to-face interviews discussing communicative processes during romantic reconciliation. The primary purpose of this thesis was to identify and define discursive struggles found within on-off relationships during reconciliation attempts, and understand how they are used between partners to give meaning to the terms "on" and "off" as a precursor to restructuring relational identity after reconciliation. More specifically, the goals of this study were to better understand how on-off partners create meaning through their discourses, rather than focus on previously identified on-off characteristics. As a result, this thesis focused on the unique romantic partnerships at a dialogic level.

Contrapuntal analysis (Baxter, 2011) was performed to answer five proposed research questions. Findings indicated that relational production, in comparison to relational reproduction was a defining discursive struggle during reconciliation. The data suggested partners using relational reproduction were less likely to have a successful reconciliation as they continued to harbor past relational tensions in the present relationship. Further, the production-reproduction discourse was found to produce a nuanced understanding of relational maintenance. Specifically, on-off relationships viewed from a dialogic perspective favor relational maintenance as a form of change versus relational maintenance as continuity of the past status quo. The presence and impact of social network support, relational uncertainty, and ambiguity surrounding on-off terminology within and between partners were also discussed. Finally, potential avenues for future research examining on-off relationships across the life course were discussed.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/6e3p-gh34

ISBN

9781321298154

Download

Share

COinS