| This dissertation forwards a relational continuity model describing how intimate relational partners sustain their relationships over time, as they cycle in and out of physical co-presence. The proposed model represents an integration of Sigman's (1991) work on relational continuity with various research areas, including relational maintenance, interdependence, and intimacy. Four studies were conducted toward validating the model. Study one is an inductive analysis of open-ended data, originating from interviews, surveys, and focus groups of over 500 individuals in geographically-separated romantic, family, and friend relationships. Study one yielded 178 items constituting what Sigman termed relational continuity constructional units (RCCUs). Studies two and three are exploratory and confirmatory analyses of the proposed model's hierarchical structure in the context of long-distance romantic relationships. Study two, through principal axis analysis of the RCCUs derived in study one, indicated the viability of the predicted nine-factor model. Study three utilized structural equation modeling and demonstrated the proposed model's hierarchical structure provided markedly better fit than alternative structures. Construct validity of the model's factors was explored, and generally supported, in study four. Consistent with predictions, total continuity construction was positively related to romantic partners' self-reported interdependence, intimacy, closeness, and satisfaction. Total continuity construction, moreover, was negatively linked to partners' reported emotional and social loneliness, stress, relationship ambivalence, and distancing behaviors. As elaborated in the concluding chapter, the model appears well-suited for a wide range of relational maintenance research, especially amongst partners who experience periods of geographic separation from one another, due to, for example, military deployment, occupational travel, immigration, and education-related travel. Also discussed are areas for theoretical advancement, with particular emphasis on linear and cyclical temporal perspectives on continuity construction. Overall, the model developed in this dissertation further elucidates the myriad means by which relationships are discursively and cognitively maintained over time and space. |
