Talking Relationships into Being

Abstract

When the study of relationships focuses on the dyadic level of analysis, it must also take account of the social context in which relationships come into being. That context is strongly bordered by talk and the rhetorical basis of normal (and scientific) discourse. Discourse and other actions typically reproduce the relationship in its own image on successive occasions, though they do not have to do so. The appearance of stability in relationships is thus the result of perpetually constructive activity of partners, not the result of `the nature' of the relationship itself.

Does talking about their relationship affect couples’ marital and psychological adjustment to lung cancer?

“…This idea is consistent with research showing that partners in a new relationship may have a need to talk more about the relationship in an effort to define it [45,48]. Like couples in new relationships, those faced with the many role changes brought on by a shared stressor like cancer may also have a need to "redefine" and therefore discuss their relationships.…”

“…Such discussions have been shown to help partners better define their relationships [45] and repair relationships that are functioning poorly [46]. Both functions are relevant in cancer as couples must adapt to new roles and responsibilities, incorporate cancer in their everyday lives, and overcome constraints on spousal communication (e.g., partner avoidance, criticism) that may adversely affect relationship functioning.…”

Closeness, strength, and satisfaction: Examining the nature of relationships between providers of financial services and their retail customers

“…One can hypothesize why they would wish a less-close relationship; this result calls for further analysis. The fact that more than 40% would prefer that their relationship with their main bank be closer supports the view of Duck (1995) that relationships are constantly in need of reconstruction through discourse and other interpersonal activity.…”

‘It's just like you talk to a friend’ relational agents for older adults

“…In addition to the reasons cited in Section 1, an ECA was selected because language is the primary modality used to build human relationships (Duck, 1995), face-to-face conversation is the primary site of human language use, and many of the relational strategies that humans use within conversation are non-verbal (Andersen and Guerrero, 1998).…”