Can we be (and stay) friends? Remaining friends after dissolution of a romantic relationship.
Although many individuals report being friends with their ex-romantic partners (Wilmot, Carbaugh, & Baxter, 1985), the literature regarding post-romantic friendships is very limited. We investigated whether satisfaction in the dissolved romantic relationship could predict post-romantic friendships and friendship maintenance. We found that the more satisfied individuals were during the dissolved romance, the more likely they were to remain friends and the more likely they were to engage in friendship maintenance behaviors. We also found that friendship maintenance fully mediated the association between past romantic satisfaction and current friendship satisfaction.
Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, MO 63128 USA. mbullock@slu.edu
Melinda
M
Bullock
Jana
J
Hackathorn
Eddie M
EM
Clark
Brent A
BA
Mattingly
D000293:Adolescent; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult