| This study was based on the assumption that people are active in the creation of their relationships with others. Research on social relations suggests relationships are linked in social space by the rights and obligations within them. Additions to the relationship network force the network members to renegotiate the rights and obligations and realign in social space. A relationship network is the constellation of relationships a person considers to be most important in his or her social world. This study explored the transformation of relationship networks which occurs during romantic relationship development. The relationship networks of 173 undergraduate students in heterosexual romantic relationships were studied. Four phases of romantic relationship development (non-exclusive dating, exclusive dating, engaged, and married) were examined. The patterns of Leakage (who is talked about and in what depth that talk occurs) and Density (who knows whom in the relationship network) are considered indicants of the position of relationships relative to each other in social space. Patterns of Leakage and Density were compared across the four phases of romantic relationship development. Findings revealed that relationships are in relatively different positions in social space depending on the phase of relationship development of the romantic relationship in the network. Specifically, those who are non-exclusively dating interact with each other and with their networks differently than do those in later romantic relationship phases. Results were explained in terms of their relation to group development theory. Implications were advanced for understanding the development of heterosexual romantic relationships, for treatment of romantic partners in psychotherapy, and for future research. |
