Interpersonal Communication: Intimacy In Close Relationships

Self-disclosure is an important part of any close relationship. Without sharing our own fears and weaknesses, we can

Lastly, the basic sociological basic of intimate relationships are a close, personal, and domestic relationship between partners. Intimacy is a close and personal relationship that occurs when the two partners are identified as a couple after a period of dating. Intimacy usually leads to love and changes over time, an

I am of an opinion that sharing ideas and thoughts is an essential part of communication. It can foster a better understanding of each other and issues promoting respect, confidence and new approaches. In working in a team or with young people it can enable the forming of new relationships creating better working practices and pro change and more productive outcomes.

trusts that affection is centered around reproducing, and for it to be significant, passion must be included.

Communication is important in relationships as it allows us to share our interest, concerns, and support one other; organize our lives and make decisions. Communication allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on the way we talk and listen, and how we respond with our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate but it takes more than words to create a safe, exciting and secure relationship. Too often the signals we send are not those we intend, when this happens, often both connection and trust are lost in our relationships.

* intimate relationships involve a high degree of love, trust, empathy and commitment from both partners

why we form relationships eventually lead to a deeper level of connection, the intensifying and

Positive points can be shared with other team members and best practice can be used in the workplace.

can be defined by the love the to have for each other. In the book "extremely loud and incredibly close" by Jonathan

It is often said that all good things come to an end. Relationships come and go, and some mean more than others. In fact, there was even a relationship model developed by a communication researcher by the name of Mark Knapp. In his model, he goes through what seems to be presented as a smooth step transition from each stage in which a relationship eventually evolves into. As I studied this up then down ladder model, I began to realize that I ought to build up some strong calf muscles, because my relationship sure has climbed up and down a few flights of stairs. Mark Knapp believes that relationships go through multiple stages, the uphill stages being initiation, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding, then relational maintenance. On the flip side, Knapp believes the descending stages to be differentiating, circumscribing, avoiding, and eventually, termination.

Although many books have been written about communication and connection in relationships, there has been a book that addresses precisely this wonderful process as has James C. Petersen in his book: Why Don’t We Listen Better? And it is precisely the way in which the parts he divided the book that takes the reader to a better understanding of what the personal relationships connections through communications are concerned.

Just as self concept seemed a vicious circle, where this affects that and that effects this; relational development is the same. Relational development can alter our lives and our communication, while communication issues can alter our relational development and our lives. The relational perspective is a pragmatic one and focuses on the continuance of communication processes through relationships. (Rogers, 2004.) Relationships go through a series of stages. The initial and first encounter to a relationship is called the initiating stage. While in this stage, two people attempt to create favorably impressionable first impressions. In this stage you will look for cues about the other person’s personality, attitude, beliefs, and values so that you can progress the relationship. If the relationship continues and impressions are favorable than the two people move to the second stage, also known as the experimenting stage. In this stage people reveal themselves further but not completely since the stage is still a precarious one. If a common ground and understanding of each other is obtained then the relationship moves to the next stage, the intensifying stage. In this stage shared experiences becomes common and self disclosure is open. The next stage is the integrating stage, this is where the individuals usually become a couple. They have shared interests and attitudes, and sometimes talk or act alike. The other individual becomes like your other half. If things go awry than relationships often shift to the circumscribing stage. This is when couples start to self disclose less and less to the other person. Then comes the stagnating stage. At this point there is no communication and no activity between the two people. Sometimes there is an

Lastly the third stage is called the intensifying stage, during which the relationship becomes less formal. The two people involved will start to reveal their personal information and analyze each other’s personal impression. Most of the time the two will find ways to strengthen the interpersonal development, such as gifts, hanging out more often and expecting a commitment within the relationship. The last two stages of the coming together part of the model are called integration and bonding. During the integration stage the two people come closer and can fall in love or create a closer friendship. Lastly there is the bonding stage during which the two will announce their relationship to everyone, this is the point where the relationship is indefinite.

In a study done with hundreds of college students, they were asked what relationships were most important to them. 47% answered romantic partner, 36% answered a friendship, and 14% answered a family member. (Adler, 302) From this study, you can conclude that most of our relationships that mean the most are our romantic relationships, but why? Romantic relationships are the most complicated because intimacy, gender, culture, and social media. In friendships you worry about types of friendships, gender, and social media. In family relationships there are patterns of communication, effective communication, and creating a family through good communication.

The four stages Sampling, Bargaining, Commitment and Institutionalisation describe how a relationship forms and settles. The theory is predominantly behaviourist and assumes that humans operate as rational beings making decisions based on costs and benefits and that their decision making is motivated by the desire to get basic individual needs met.