25-5 Critical Events Associated with Relationship Development during Mate Selection Processes

The purpose of this study was to investigate critical events that affect relationship development during mate selection processes. Seventy newly-married couples participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked to remember as accurately as possible the events which led to their decision to marry and explain why each event resulted in increasing or decreasing of commitment. Researchers read each transcript and generated four categories of subjective inferences. Intrapersonal factors were explanations in which the partner and the relationship are evaluated against some personal standards. Dyadic factors included behavior and subjective interdependence, conflict, self-disclosure, and redefinitions of the stage of involvement. Social network factors made references to interaction with or attributions about third parties such as relatives, friends, and other dating partners. Circumstantial factors were anticipated or unanticipated events over which the person had little or no control, and which stemmed from institutions or forces external to the person or their relationships. Results indicated that both dyadic and social network factors were important in marital decision during the mate selection processes for Taiwanese couples. Gender, stage, and relationship type differences in partners’ references were also found.

Keywords
critical events, gender difference, mate selection, relationship stage, relationship type.

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