Abstract
The current study sought to examine the perceived centrality or importance of six basic contradictions in the turning points of relationship development for heterosexual romantic pairs. A modified Retrospective Interview Technique was employed to elicit respondent accounts of the turning points of their relationship. For our sample of 100 males and females, drawn from 50 heterosexual romantic couples, the contradictions of Autonomy-Connection and Openness-Closedness were attributed greatest importance across a wide range of turning-point event types. The perceived importance of three other contradictions (Inclusion-Seclusion, Revelation-Concealment, and Predictability-Novelty) was localized in particular turning-point events. The contradiction of Conventionality-Uniqueness was lowest in perceived importance across turning point types.
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