Marital Interaction

“It’s one of those things people say, you can’t move on until you’ve let go of the past. Letting go is the easy part, it’s the moving on that’s painful. So sometimes we fight it. We try to keep things the same. Things can’t stay the same though, at some point you just have to let go, move on, because no matter how painful it is. It’s the only way we grow.”

There are many reasons and speculations as to why certain individuals recover or move on sooner after a break-up, whereas other individuals do not move on as fast, and battle emotionally for an extended period of time, long after the relationship has ended. There are various factors that influence how an individual will respond once the relationship has come to an end. These factors can be sub divided into Personal/Individual Factors and Intrapersonal Factors.

Interpersonal Factors are features within one’s personal environment, also known as agents or forces, such as individuals or groups within an individual’s sphere of activity or life-space, that exert conforming influence on him/her. (reference) This assignment has chosen an individual’s social support system as an interpersonal factor which influences an individual after a relationship break-up. Research has shown that women experience more distress during the initial separation, but men experience more distress from the separation itself. (Locker, Mcintosh, Hackney, Wilson, Wiegand, 2010)

A social support system can be defined as, the people which you are familiar with, which are supportive during difficult periods of time in your life, such as a relationship coming to an end, death of a close one or even dismissal from employment. It can be informative such as giving advice or emotional support, such as reassurance that one is cared for and that everything will be alright in time or it can be in the form of services such as support groups’ and meetings (ITS psychological dictionary, 2005). Social support systems are vital for every...