Relationship Maintenance: A Review of Research on Romantic Relationships

Abstract Relationship maintenance encompasses a broad array of activities that partners may use to preserve their romantic partnerships. For this article, we systematically review the vast literature ( N = 1,149 articles) on relationship maintenance in romantic relationships. We first identify the relevant constructs and propose a conceptual model to organize the literature. Then we turn our focus to the empirical research on the processes and social context of relationship maintenance. We conclude by highlighting the lingering questions in the study of relationship maintenance and offering recommendations for future research.