relationship breakdown A03

• he modelisculturally biased as itdoes not account for the ways in which collectivist cultures may approach or viewrelationship breakdown.based on relationships from individualist cultures, where ending the relationships is a voluntary choice, and separation and divorce are easily obtainable and do not carry stigma. However, no case in collectivist cultures, where relationships are sometimes arranged by wider family members, and characterised by greater family involvement. This makes the relationship difficult to end, which means that the break-up process will not follow the phases proposed by Duck. As a result, Duck's model is culturally biased as it assumes that break-up process is universal, which is clearly not the case.
• Most of the research examining relationship breakdown is based on retrospective data, using questionnaires or interviews to ask participants about the break-up some time after it happened. People's memories of the event may not be accurate, and may also be coloured by their current situation, which means that their answers are not reliable. This means Duck's phase model, even though it seems to be supported by research, does not necessarily describe how break-up happens in real life, weakening the model's ability to present an accurate picture of relationship breakdown.
• significant ethical issues involved in investigating relationship breakdown, especially if the research involves victims of domestic abuse or it was a traumtic breakup participants may experience distress in the process of the research. This makes the topic particularly difficult to investigate, as researchers may find it tricky to conduct a study where the benefits of research outweigh a possible negative impact on participants.
• useful applications, in relation to couples’ counselling. Couples may be advised to use different strategies depending on the phase they are currently in. for a person in the intra-psychic phase it may be more useful to shift their attention to the positive aspects of their partner's personality, while for a couple in the dyadic phase communication about dissatisfaction and ways to balance relationships is crucial. This shows that Duck's model of relationship breakdown can be used successfully to help couples contemplating break-up to improve their relationships and stay together.
• The social phase is greatly affected by individual differences, especially in relation to age. Dickson (1995) found that while friends and relatives tend to see teenagers' break-ups as less serious and wouldn't put much effort into reconciling partners, the ending of relationships by older couples is seen as more distressing and those close to the couple put more effort into bringing them back together. This shows that Duck's model won't necessarily apply to all couples, and therefore suggests that the model is unable to accurately predict breakdown in different types of relationship.