Duck’s filtration relationship model considers the different cues in which individual’s sequential get to know someone. This …show more content…
As discussed in the text, Mark Knapp developed a five-stage development that included, initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding (). An important stage that seemed to fit well with the couple being interviewed was Integrating. During this stage, couples begin to make more of an effort to see each other on a daily basis where they will move things around just to see the other person more. This includes couples spending time with the one another’s social circle. The couple explained when they started to date more frequently; they would go on a lot of group dates, mostly with the husband’s friends. They were both involved in a softball league with the husband’s friends and being that the wife’s cousin was the husband’s best friend, their social circle overlapped quiet often. Integrating was not always easy for the couple as the wife’s father was not a huge fan of the husband in the beginning of the relationship. The wife explained, as they would spend more time together, she started to bring him around the house to become familiar with her family, but her father was very strict and did not like the fact that the husband had more freedom. This aspect became an issue because if the husband wanted to do something more adventurous, the wife would not be able to go, sometimes leading to arguments. Although this was a serious conflict, the couple was able to discover more about each other in those situations. The husband described this situation to be difficult at times but it made him appreciate their time together. Another stage that was crucial to the couple is the final stage, “Bonding.” As the book discusses, this stage is often time where serious discussions take place about their future commitment to each other (). Robert Fulghum explains the importance of convenant talk, when two people discuss “what they want, what they believe, and what they hope