Relational Turbulence Model Essay

Holmes-Rahe (1967) found out that “marital separation from mate” is the 3rd most stressful life event to a person, next to “death of a spouse” and “divorce.” Another study on Human Development Report (2009) states that “separation [between spouses] is typically a painful decision incurring high emotional costs for both the mover and those left behind.” In addition to this, they would also have to go through the challenge of maintaining their relationship despite being physically apart. The transition experienced by couples from being in proximity to being geographically apart creates a time of amplified intensity and drama (Knobloch, 2007).

The relational turbulence model of Solomon and Knobloch (2004) explains why transitions causes turmoil in a relationship. Relational turbulence is the individual’s tendency to be cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally reactive to relationship

circumstances (Solomon & Theiss, 2008). It occurs when transitions in a relationship disrupt the exchange of messages between romantic partners. This model was formed based on evidences that the transition from casual to serious involvement in relationships is associated with more frequent experiences of conflict, and more frequent intense negative emotions.
Relational turbulence model highlights two qualities that are evident during times of transition.

First, the impact of the transition is focused on relational uncertainty, which is defined as the doubts people have about the nature and future of their relationship. It consists of three factors and serves as sources of ambiguity: self uncertainty, partner uncertainty, and relationship uncertainty. Self uncertainty encompasses the questions individuals have about their own participation in a relationship. Partner uncertainty includes the ambiguity people experience about their partner’s participation in a relationship. Relationship uncertainty refers to the questions that arise about the state of the relationship as a whole. Second is the interference from a partner, which is defined as the actions of the partner that serves to hinder the progress towards a goal. The logic is that relational uncertainty and interference from a partner will be heightened at levels of intimacy as seen in relationships undergoing transition. This theory has been applied to several researches

already.

A study conducted by Solomon & Theiss (2008) were able to prove that partner uncertainty and partner interference were negatively associated with partner responsiveness. In addition, they also found out that intimacy is positively associated with a partner’s influence in facilitation of activities. Relational turbulence theory was also applied in relation to perceived fairness in cohabiting and married couples in terms of their division of household labor (Le & Aune, 2011). The theory was also explored on the transition of post-deployment and the transition of reintegration of military service members with their families and found out that in the transition of post-deployment, relational uncertainty and interference from partners predicted turbulence markers and they partially mediated the association between relationship satisfaction and turbulence markers; and the transition of reintegration predicted openness and aggressiveness, which in turn predicted appraisals of affiliation and dominance in the relationship (Theirs & Knobloch, 2013; Theiss & Knobloch, 2011).

Romantic partners who are in long distance relationships have increased in number in the recent years. According to The Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships (Guldner, 2005), there are more than 7 million couples who live apart for reasons other than marital discord. In the Philippines, there are an estimated 2.4 million overseas Filipino workers (OFW; Philippine Statistics Authority, 2016). Among the OFWs, there are around 44% of female migrants and 72% of male migrants who are married. There are currently no data available for OFWs who are in a long distance relationship, but are not married. There are also no available information on the statistics of Filipinos who are in long distance relationships for reasons other than work.

Drawing from the theory, we propose that the experience of transition of separating geographically from romantic partners can cause a turbulence in their relationship. According to past studies, the said turbulence is also associated with different relationship qualities, specifically: a) relationship satisfaction, b) compromise as a constructive conflict strategy, and c) positive emotional expressivity.