Close relationship dialectics: Young adult friends' perceptions and interaction patterns

An exploratory, descriptive study was done to explore the dialectical perspective and to see how it helps to explain how young adults sustain their friendships. Three key theoretical claims of the dialectical perspective not previously examined were explored in this study. First, this study examined dialectics at a dyadic level. Second, it explored whether friends' behavioral interactions reflected their dialectical tensions. Third, it examined how dialectics change over time.;During the four-week study, 89 pairs of same-sex friends, who were in established close friendships, completed weekly logs that required each friend to document the interactions they shared and to record their dialectical tensions. The two overarching research questions of this study asked (1) whether there were patterns of interaction between the friends that characterized their dialectical tensions for the autonomy-connection dialectic and the openness-closedness dialectic and (2) whether there were patterns of change in the friends' dialectical scores over time.;Analyses found little support for the existence of relationships between the total number of interactions friends shared and the autonomy, connection, or closedness dialectical pole scores. However, evidence demonstrated a relationship between the openness dialectical pole scores and the total number of interactions shared by friends. Additional analyses also found little support for relationships between the types of interactions shared by friends (companionship, consideration, communication, and affection) and their dialectical pole scores. However, secondary results suggested potential relationships. The strongest relationships were found between the affection interactions and the openness dialectical pole and between the companionship interactions and the autonomy dialectical pole.;Analyses revealed that friends' dialectical pole scores changed over time. No evidence suggested overall patterns of change, but additional analyses found multiple patterns of change occurred in each dialectical poles. Most friends' dialectical scores did not change dramatically; most were fairly consistent. The analyses also showed that some dialectical poles experienced greater variety in their patterns of change. Overall, these findings support the notion that friends constantly adjust to the presence of dialectical tensions in their relationships and that these dialectical tensions change over time.