Relational Turbulence Theory: Interpersonal Communication During Times of Transition

Relational turbulence theory seeks to explain how people communicate when circumstances change within romantic relationships. The theory proposes that transitions in relationships give rise to relational uncertainty and interrupt interdependence, which heighten people’s cognitive, emotional, and communicative reactivity to specific episodes that occur within their relationship. According to the theory, people’s repeated exposures to polarizing incidents crystallize into a sense of the relationship as turbulent, which in turn, governs cumulative outcomes. In Chapter 28, entitled”Relational Turbulence Theory: Interpersonal Communication during Times of Transition, " Leanne K. Knobloch, Denise Haunani Solomon, Jennifer A. Theiss, and Rachel M. McLaren trace the intellectual history of the theory’s development, explicate the theory’s logic, describe recent research, weigh the theory’s strengths and limitations, and offer recommendations for future work.