Imagined interactions can help individuals as they navigate the end of relationships. In this study, we utilize imagined interactions to understand how participants with a loved one who believes in the QAnon conspiracy imagined interacting with that person. Participants wrote about an imagined interaction with a relational partner. Imagined interactions were qualitatively content analyzed. Themes that emerged from these imagined interactions included imagining ideal scenarios with the partner, justifying relational termination, venting frustrations about the partner, and avoiding imagining the interaction. Functions of imagined interactions, including catharsis and conflict-linkage, are used to help individuals manage intrapsychic processes in relational dissolution.
BevanJ. L.CameronK. A.DillowM. R. (2003). One more try: Compliance-gaining strategies associated with romantic reconciliation attempts. Southern Communication Journal, 68(2), 121–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/10417940309373255
2.
CarrierA. (2021). QAnon almost destroyed my relationship. Then my relationship saved me from QAnon.
3.
CodutoK. D.VendemiaM. A.ViveretteS.WilliamsE. (2022). Exploring sexual, romantic, and platonic features and functions of the imagined interactions framework. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 42(1), 24–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/02762366221089279
4.
CookJ. (2024). The quiet damage: QAnon and the destruction of the American family. Crown.
5.
Covington-GuilloryE. N.MadisonT. P.WintersC. (2024). A thematic analysis of enhancing constructive political conflict using positive imagined interactions. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 43(3), 197–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/02762366231213997
6.
CreswellJ. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage Publications, Inc.
7.
DaileyR. M.PalomaresN. A. (2004). Strategic topic avoidance: An investigation of topic avoidance frequency, strategies used, and relational correlates. Communication Monographs, 71(4), 471–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363452042000307443
8.
DaileyR. M.ZhongL.PettR.VargaS. (2020). Post-dissolution ambivalence, breakup adjustment, and relationship reconciliation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(5), 1604–1625. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520906014
9.
DemuruP. (2022). Qanons, anti-vaxxers, and alternative health influencers: A cultural semiotic perspective on the links between conspiracy theories, spirituality, and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Semiotics, 32(5), 588–605. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2022.2157170
10.
DuckS. (1982). A topography of relationship disengagement and dissolution. In DuckS. (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 1–30). Academic Press.
11.
FifeS. T.TheobaldA. C.GossnerJ. D.YakumB. N.WhiteK. L. (2022). Individual healing from infidelity and breakup for emerging adults: A grounded theory. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(6), 1814–1838. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211067441
12.
GlaserB.StraussA. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Sociology Press.
13.
GottmanJ. M. (1994). Why marriages succeed or fail. Simon & Schuster.
14.
HoneycuttJ. M. (2003). Imagined interactions: Daydreaming about communication. Hampton Press.
15.
HoneycuttJ. M. (2015). Imagined interaction theory: Mental representations of interpersonal communication. In BraithwaiteD. O.SchrodtP. (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 75–87). Sage.
HoneycuttJ. M.KeatonS. A. (2012). Imagined interactions and personality preferences as predictors of relationship quality. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 32(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.2190/IC.32.1.b
18.
HoneycuttJ. M.VickeryA. J.HatcherL. C. (2015). The daily use of imagined interaction features. Communication Monographs, 82(2), 201–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2014.953965
JordanM. M.WhitmerJ. M. (2023). “I would give anything to talk about aliens now”: QAnon conspiracy theories and the creation of cognitive deviance. Sociological Perspectives, 66(6), 992–1014. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214231181383
21.
KhullarT. H.KirmayerM. H.DirksM. A. (2021). Relationship dissolution in the friendships of emerging adults: How, when, and why?Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(11), 3243–3264. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211026015
22.
KnappM. L. (1978). Social intercourse: From greeting to goodbye. Allyn & Bacon.
23.
KnappM. L.VangelistiA. L. (2005). Interpersonal communication and human relationships. Allyn & Bacon.
24.
LillieH. M.VenetisM. K.Chernichky-KarcherS. (2023). Resilience communication mitigates the negative relational effects of topic avoidance: Evidence from parental caregiving and COVID-19 pandemic contexts. Personal Relationships, 30(4), 1252–1273. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12508
25.
MoskalenkoS.BurtonB. S.Fernández-Garayzábal GonzálezJ.BloomM. M. (2023). Secondhand conspiracy theories: The social, emotional, and political tolls on loved ones of QAnon followers. Democracy and Security, 19(3), 231–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2022.2111305
26.
OkdieB. M.RempalaD. M.MustricS. R. (2023). You believe what?!: Relational closeness and belief relevance predict conspiracy belief tolerance. Current Psychology, 42, 27630–27645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03891-5
27.
PattonM. Q. (1999). Enhancing the quality and credibility of qualitative analysis. Health Services Research, 34(5 Pt 2), 1189–1208. PMID: 10591279.
28.
PhillipsJ. B. (2025). “I’m so worried about my whole family”: Modeling r/QanonCasualties to better understand the effects of (QAnon) conspiracy beliefs on families. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 42(7), 1517–1536. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251328116
29.
PoonK.ChanR. S. W.Hill-SonL. (2023). Are rules made to be broken? Conspiracy exposure promotes aggressive behavior. Political Psychology, 45(6), 923–940. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12947
30.
RollieS. S.DuckS. (2006). Divorce and dissolution of romantic relationships: Stage models and their limitations. In FineM. A.HarveyJ. H. (Eds.), Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution (pp. 223–240). Erlbaum.
31.
RothschildM. (2021). The storm is upon us: How QAnon became a movement, cult, and conspiracy of everything. Melville House.
32.
St-AmantM.KingM.StolteL.ArgentinoM. (2023). Qollateral: The impact of QAnon on loved once and the potential for P/CVE programs to help. Journal for Deradicalization, 35, 33–75. https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/739
van ProoijenJ.SpadaroG.WangH. (2022). Suspicion of institutions: How distrust and conspiracy theories deteriorate social relationships. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 65–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.013
35.
WhitmerJ. M.JordanM. M. (2023). Conflict over conspiracy theories: Face-work, epistemic identity, and the structure of interactions. Symbolic Interaction. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.673
36.
WorwoodJ.ScharpK. M.PhillipsK. E. (2020). “I don’t want to have a weird relationship with you, so I’m trying”: Relational turning points and trajectories of ex-member children and their member parents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Journal of Family Communication, 20(4), 327–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2020.1825087
