Romantic relationships play an important role in our lives, whether they continue to develop or come to an end. For this assignment, I chose to focus on my current relationship with my boyfriend Michael. We have been dating for four years and met here at Purdue University. Throughout these years of our dating, we have climbed all of the stairs of Knapp’s Relational Development Model. The first stage of Knapp’s model is initiation, which is the stage where a potential couple makes their first impressions (source 1). Our initiation process was a combination of a pool party and Where Else bar. Michael first saw me at a mutual friend’s pool party. He developed a physical attraction which led him to begin a conversation with me at Where Else.
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In this level, the couple is seen as one instead of two individuals. If there is a family’s or friend’s event, the other partner is expected to be with them. Everything becomes “ours” instead of “mine” and “we” instead of “me”. Michael and I took a while to come to this stage, partially because I am an extreme extrovert and loved spending time with just my friends. Now, we are inseparable. We have the same friend group, with the exception of friends from our home towns that are not around us as a couple as often. There are not any secrets between us because we have discussed every topic possible, including future plans. Considering he has graduated and I am still in school, we only see each other on the weekends since he lives in Indianapolis. In this stage, I used the “secret test” to figure out what I should do after I graduate. I told him I was considering looking for jobs in Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Chicago, to see what his response would be. He told me I should look for jobs in Indianapolis so we could live together. The final stage is bonding. This is how a couple declares their togetherness which could include moving in together, becoming engaged, or marrying (source 1). I believe Michael and I have one foot on the bonding step. Since I am still in school, we discussed waiting until I graduate to take any further steps. It is now not a sense of if we will become engaged but more of a when. I thought it would be better for my future endeavors if I focused on building a successful career before I tried I plan a
In this level, the couple is seen as one instead of two individuals. If there is a family’s or friend’s event, the other partner is expected to be with them. Everything becomes “ours” instead of “mine” and “we” instead of “me”. Michael and I took a while to come to this stage, partially because I am an extreme extrovert and loved spending time with just my friends. Now, we are inseparable. We have the same friend group, with the exception of friends from our home towns that are not around us as a couple as often. There are not any secrets between us because we have discussed every topic possible, including future plans. Considering he has graduated and I am still in school, we only see each other on the weekends since he lives in Indianapolis. In this stage, I used the “secret test” to figure out what I should do after I graduate. I told him I was considering looking for jobs in Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Chicago, to see what his response would be. He told me I should look for jobs in Indianapolis so we could live together. The final stage is bonding. This is how a couple declares their togetherness which could include moving in together, becoming engaged, or marrying (source 1). I believe Michael and I have one foot on the bonding step. Since I am still in school, we discussed waiting until I graduate to take any further steps. It is now not a sense of if we will become engaged but more of a when. I thought it would be better for my future endeavors if I focused on building a successful career before I tried I plan a