Knapp’s Relationship Model starts out with the differentiating stage. In this stage the couples see their differences as complementary or they see them as undesirable and annoying. The relationship I had with my boyfriend of three years was all about differences. I liked to listen to country music and he liked to listen to rock. I would wear cowboy boots he would wear sneakers. He likes spicy food and I like mild food. Sometimes we could agree and other times we couldn’t. So at some points those differences got to be annoying. But we would come together and make an agreement and say I could listen to country on the way to the store and then we would listen to rock on the way back. By making a compromise we start to bond again and can enjoy the car rides. I first met my boyfriend in high school in math class. We had the same group of friends so when one of our friends was having a party we would both go and that’s where we starting talking and getting to know each other. He did not ask me out right away he waited until we got back from our band…
The terminating stage is where the couples have both decided the relationship was not going to work. This was true for my relationship with my boyfriend of three years. I did not feel the connection between us anymore so I decided it was time that we went our separate ways. The good part was that we both still want to keep in touch; we ended on good terms which is always a positive. All relationships have their up’s and down’s and sometimes they just do not end up working out. In my case my relationship was based off of “opposites attract”, but this can only last so long before the differences start to take over. I feel Knapp hit the main parts of a relationship, and he explains everything. I can really relate to the different stages that he came up with, and I feel that most relationships take these steps. Relationships can be hard at times but they can also be…
