The First Five Stages Of The Mark Knapp Model Of Relational Stages

According to the Knapp model, the beginning of every relationship—especially an intimate, romantic or close friendship—begins with the initiation stage. This stage involves the initial contact with another person. In the movie the stage of initiation begins when Harry and Sally meet for the first time and prepare to share a

The first stage of the Social Penetration Process is the orientation stage which occurs at a public level, revealing small parts about ourselves. Rose and Jack enter this stage when Jack sees Rose standing at the edge of the boat. He approached her for the first time and talked her out of committing suicide. The only interaction they have at this stage is an introduction. The next day, Rose finds Jack and thanks him for helping her. While talking they seem to disclose more and more information about each other. They now enter the exploratory stage. They now expand to public areas about themselves about their hobbies and personal situations. Jack and Rose were quite comfortable with each other and entered the third stage of the process; the affective exchange stage. Social penetration in this stage is spontaneous and comfortable. They begin to show reciprocity, which is when one person’s openness leads to the others openness. Jack does this by asking if she loves her fiancé, a very personal question. It seems as if the more they disclose about each other, the more they like each other, and the more they seem to have in common. This leads Jack and Rose into the stable exchange stage which pertains to complete openness and spontaneous. At this point in the movie it is evident that both Jack and Rose have feelings for each other.

The area of greatest disagreement was the area of midlife crisis. “Levinson (1978) views midlife as a crisis, arguing that the middle-aged adult is suspended between the past and the future, trying to cope with this gap that threatens life’s continuity (Santrock, 2013 p. 512). This is particularly interesting because the female responded that she was experiencing a midlife crisis and the male did not. However, in this instance, the female is still in the workforce and the male is retired. The experiences that the female related closely resemble the conditions of the male during the time of Levinson’s study. In addition to still working, the female had recently changed her place of employment, and within the past five years lost both of her parents. While the male was retired and took care of the house and children, his stress level had been reduced as he became the primary care giver to this in-laws and their passing reduced his overall daily responsibilities. Both maintain close relationships with their siblings and frequently get together with them.

The first stages are contact where individuals exchange basic information and decide if the relationship is worth pursuing. In the movie the audience can see this stage when Gary starts conversation with Brooke in the game of baseball. He offers to Brooke a hot dog, but she does not accept it. Gary insists offering the bread and she does not interest in Gary. After the game, Gary invites her to a bar, but Brooke refuses one more time to him. Gary insists saying that maybe a conversation can change their lives, and then Brooke accepts the invitation. At this moment, the audience can appreciate the second stage of relationships: involvement. They will spend more time together allowing an intensification of the relationship, knowing, and learning of each other. The third stage is intimacy. It is when two people accept each other and confirm their roles. The interpersonal commitment is demonstrated in the movie when several Gary and Brooke’s pictures are played showing them kissing and holding their hands. In addition, they show their social bonding which is more in public when the Brooke’s family comes to eat at home. The principal characters show to others that they are a partner and the family can see that. The next stage

Social attraction is very important in romantic relationships, if your significant other does not like your friends or they do not get along, this could be a deal breaker and end of the relationship. The study was to determine which distinctive nonverbal practices were related to romantic enthusiasm for an attractive person and if these practiced contrasted as a component of relationship status and self- reveled love for one’s significant other. Impersonation was directly connected with the romantic enthusiasm for the person, impersonation was negatively connected with the self- announced love for one’s significant other. This recommends that impersonation capacities to flag favored social distance. While positive nonverbal actions such as grinning, smiling, vocal enjoyableness rose as critical affiliative nonverbal practices. The results show that impersonation of another is a relationship-support instrument, which is expressed unexpectedly, nonconscious, and automatically. People use their nonverbal behavior to show that they are available to others (Farley, S. (2014). This study shows how one’s social perception of a partner affects their

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.

In a relationship, we often look at how compatible we are with each other. The rules that govern how a relationship is formed and maintained is important to keep in mind, if we want to build long-lasting relationships. Forming a romantic relationship does not happen right away it takes time and steps to build. Communications scholar Mark Knapp believes forming a relationship has five steps which include initiating stage, experimenting stage, intensifying stage, integrating stage, and bonding stage. . When we form relationships, we look at people are we are most attracted too.

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

For this paper, I had the privilege of interviewing one of my friend’s grandmother. Her name is Jamie Hansen and she is a healthy and active 68-year-old grandmother. In the beginning of the phone call, I asked some basic background knowledge questions such as how many grandkids she has and if she was a widower or not. I found out that she and her husband are happily married and that she has six grandchildren. As I got to know her more I started asking questions that pertained to the interview aspect of social theories. I figured out that Mrs. Hansen’s responses led to an application of the continuity and socioemotional selective theories.

During the “Initiating” stage we share introductions and create impressions of each other. For me, this stage was terribly short and informal. We had met a few times in passing at parties and barely knew each other’s names. Furthermore, due to the person introducing us, we both created a negative first impression of each other, because neither of us had much respect for this individual. However, one day when we were both in

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.

I interviewed John and Cindy about their marriage and the challenges they’ve faced together as a married couple. I am encouraged by their relationship and have decided to use their relationship as a model for my second interview. John and Cindy have been married for almost 5 years. In addition to this union, there is McKenna, Cindy’s son. They are a blended family, of course, and are part of the more modern structure of families in our society.

Another symbolic way of interaction that I have noticed is between Denise and Kathy. Denise is Kathy’s boss but their relationship is far more than just boss and employee. Denise usually comes to look for Kathy to ask her if she wants to take a walk. Kathy is always very joyous to go take a walk with Denise. For the longest time I didn’t know what they meant. I did some investigation and found out that they both go have a cigarette together. They do not like going to smoke alone, therefore they prefer each other’s company. Another form of interaction is between Antonio and me. We know nothing of each other therefore we try to bond in any way that we find. Antonio and I have very long conversations about complex topics. An example would be talking

It is clear to see every one of Erikson’s stages play out within my mother’s life. As a 46-year-old woman, she has achieved most all of the beginning stages, such as autonomy and industry, but it was not until after she was married, at age 22, that she gained a more clear and confident identity while she simultaneously worked toward achieving intimacy. Though Erikson believed that one must have a secure self identity before moving onto the next stage, which includes marriage, it is evident in the case of my mother that the relationships she formed after marriage are what makes up the majority of her current identity. In stage seven she developed a mature love and fully found her identity through experiences as a mother and wife. She even went as far as to say that she would have “most likely turned

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.