Successful Relationships essays

Successful Relationships essays Successful relationships can be formed through many different ways of attraction including similarity of interest, differences that are complementary, reciprocal attraction, competence, self-disclosure, and proximity. Because of the presence of many of these factors, my parents began a relationship that has endured for almost twenty years. Self-disclosure, intimacy, and respect are three of the most important ingredients in developing and maintaining a meaningful relationship. Through the breadth of self-disclosure, shared intimacy, and respect for one another, my parents have built an enjoyable positive personal relationship. Since my parents did not grown up near each other, the early part of their relationship developed through the breadth of self-disclosure. Self-disclosure is a deliberate and gradual process of revealing significant information about ones self to another that would not normally be known by others. Because most of their past was not known to each other, there was a lot of information that needed to be shared about their past experiences, likes and dislikes, and goals for the future. Having begun their relationship with a great deal of self-disclosure, it prepared them for a lifelong practice of sharing. The breadth of disclosure expands continually and extends through all the areas of their life, as they readily share their daily experiences. My parents have approached this activity with wisdom, care, honesty, and mutual respect for one anothers feelings. This keeps my parents relationship strong and vibrant when there are so many elements that could bring a wedge between them. Meeks, Brenda S., Susan S. Hendrick, and Clyde Hendrick have come up with a hypothesis that, One's own self-disclosure and perceptions of the partner's self-disclosure are both positively related to one's relational satisfaction, with own disclosure more strongly related than partner disclosure (26). By both...