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Relational dialectics theory explains how people manage conflicting desires that cause tension within close relationships. The dialectical perspective of relationship development and maintenance argues that relationships are constantly changing as people go through ups and downs in their relationships. In healthy relationships, people manage ongoing tensions by adapting to one another’s changing needs, desires, or goals. According to the theory, tensions that occur within relationships are due to two simultaneous and incompatible needs or goals. Internal dialectic is the tension between the two partners within a relationship. For example, you might not want to have a lot of relationship talks, but your partner wants to talk about the relationship all the time. This reflects opposing views of intimacy that exist between you and your partner. External dialectic refers to the tension between the couple and people outside the relationship. For example, you may want to stay together with your partner, but everyone else, including your friends and family members, is telling you to break up, which can create tension. The theory suggests three basic sources of tension in close relationships. Specifically, people want to have both interdependence and autonomy while maintaining an intimate connection (autonomy vs. connection); people struggle with how novel or predictable they would like their relationship to be (novelty vs. predictability); and people manage the tension between being open and maintaining privacy (openness vs privacy). The theory has been used to understand how women make sense of their dissatisfaction during the transition to motherhood through examining competing cultural norms and expectations (Cronin-Fisher & Parcel, 2019). Another application of the theory was to examine how family members’ talk about severe mental illness and how they manage competing discourses to create family identity (i.e., a normal yet abnormal family, a physically/emotionally close yet distant family relationships; Sporer & Toller, 2017).
References and other suggested readings:
- Baxter, L. A. (2011). Voicing relationships: A dialogic perspective. Sage.
- Baxter, L. A., & Montgomery, B. M. (1996). Relating: Dialogues and dialectics. Guilford.
- Baxter, L. A., & Norwood, K. M. (2015). Relational dialectics theory: Navigating meaning from competing discourses. In D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (Eds.), Engaging theories in interperso- nal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 279-292). Sage.
- Baxter, L. A., & Norwood, K. M. (2015). Relational dialectics theory. In C. R. Berger & M. E. Roloff (Eds.), International encyclopedia of interpersonal communication. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic019
- Cronin-Fisher, V., & Parcell, E. S. (2019). Making sense of dissatisfaction during the transition to motherhood through relational dialectics theory. Journal of Family Communication, 19(2), 157-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2019.1590364
- Sporer, K., & Toller, P. W. (2017). Family identity disrupted by mental illness and violence: an application of relational dialectics theory. Southern Communication Journal, 82(2), 85-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2017.1302503
Flashcards
Download Flashcard SpreadsheetSelected Writings by Communication Studies majors at California State Prison
Los Angeles County, City of Lancaster
In the fall of 2016, the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, began offering classes inside a maximum security prison facility to offer incarcerated persons the opportunity to achieve a bachelor’s degree in Communication. In spring of 2017, selected assignments and essays produced by those students in response to prompts from this textbook were published in Colloquy: A Journal of the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles. In the time since, the program created The Prison BA Journal to share the students’ work with others. In addition, collaboration between the Lancaster State Prison’s Communication Studies students and students in Cal State LA’s Animation Option brought to life student essays through animation and narration.
Dr. Kamran Afary, faculty advisor to the program and Assistant Professor of Social Justice Communication, describes the impact of learning about interpersonal communication on his students: “I have seen its life transforming effect on my students in their interpersonal relationships with each other and in repairing relationships with their families.” Through the generosity of the program, we can share their work with all students learning from this textbook.
This website shares reflections and animations created in response to Pause and Reflect prompts, organized by chapter, as well as selected essays, poems, and presentations that address other topics or course assignments. Here is just a sample of what you will find: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7155653
We hope you will take the time to learn about interpersonal communication through the words of these students: https://www.prisonbajournal.org/ipccompanion