AO3 - Duck's Phase Model of Relationship Breakdown

• Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown has practical applications. The principles of the theory that relationships breakdown following on from the first two phases has led to a prevention model for relationship counselling to repair relationships before the actual break up. For example, the counsellor could encourage an open discussion and focus on the positive aspects of their partner, this can bring stability to the relationship. This shows that Duck’s phase model is an important part of applied Psychology as it can prevent relationship breakups in the real world.
• One limitation of Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown model is that the phases are criticised for being too rigid. Not every person goes through each phase in the order set out, it is possible that many can skip phases. For example, a person may be happy in their relationship but then it immediately breaks down due to infidelity. In this case an individual would skip the first two phases straight to ending the relationship not following the order of phases. Therefore, Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown may not be the most effective explanation for explaining breakdown.
• A further limitation is that Duck’s phase model can be criticised for lacking cultural relativism as most of the research is carried out in Western cultures. Relationships in these cultures are generally voluntary and often come to an end. However, relationships in collectivist cultures are more likely to be compulsory, and involve wider family. For example, they will speak to their family about a problem before their partner. This suggests that Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown is not applicable to all relationships across all cultures, lowering the external validity of the theory.