Relationship Dissolution
Signs of Cheating
According to Guerrero, "Rates of sexual infidelity are lower for married couples, with estimates suggesting that between 13% and 18% of married individuals admit to having at least one extramarital affair over the course of their marriage," (29). Unfortunately, Aria's dad is one of those individuals. Within sexual infidelity, there are different stages that occur, including direct revelations. Aria caught her father cheating on her mom with one of his students, Meredith. The car was parked in an alley and Aria just happened to walk by and see her dad and Meredith in the back of his car making-out. She stood and stared in awe, which caused her dad to look up and see that Aria had witnessed what was happening. Since she personally saw it occurring, it is considered to be a direct revelation. The direct revelation also occurred when Aria's dad saw her out of the car window because he realized what he was doing was obviously not right. In the following clip Aria investigates her dad, which eventually leads to her shutting him out because of what he has to say. |
Dissolution Process
The communication that occurs during a break up is a big deal. As weird as it may sound, there are different methods to breaking up. Duck's Phases of Dissolution contains five different processes. Guerrero explains that "Couples can go through several of these processes (particularly the first two) without breaking up" (30). When it comes to Hanna and Caleb, Duck's Phases of Dissolution fits them well. In the clip, the intrapsychic phase occurs in the beginning when they start to reflect the negative aspects that happen. Caleb then gets to the point where says "I can't do this anymore" which can be linked to the cognitive threshold that says "I'd be justified in leaving." Lastly, Caleb says the two words that no girl wants to hear, "I am done," which relates back to the cognitive threshold of "I mean it." It is straight to the point and he means what he says. |
Citations for footnotes 29 and 30 can be found on the citation page under the topic Relationship Dissolution.