Abstract
After a breakup, individuals are often haunted by the presence of their past relationships, making relationship termination one of the most emotionally painful events that individuals throughout their lifetime (Sprecher, Felmlee, Metts, Fehr, & Vanni, 1998). Some individuals even go as far to believe that relationship termination is like experiencing the death of one they loved (Emery, 2004). Using three of the five processes of Duck's Dissolution Model (DDM) (1982; 2005), this study examined what individuals' breakup stories reveal about their ability to adjust after a breakup has occurred. The study interviewed 18 individuals who shared their personal stories of breakup heartache. Ten interviewees discussed how social support systems were influential in providing them advice and support, while others discussed the inability of others to understand what they were going through. Though some worked through the DDM processes by burying the dead and have since found life after death by preparing and entering into new relationships, others were still struggling to let go of their previous relationship by refusing to accept the death of the relationship and in turn were stuck in purgatory instead of resurrecting. Implications and areas of future research are discussed.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
49
Issue
1
First Page
80
Last Page
102
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Trask, Sara L.
(2017)
"Haunted by the Past: Examining the Breakup Story through Duck's Dissolution Model,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 49:
No.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol49/iss1/8
Copyright
©2017 Iowa Communication Association
