Characteristics and Consequences of Expectation Violations in Close Relationships

Research on expectation violations in relationships has adopted a conceptual framework of violations that constrains our understanding of the role that unexpected behaviors play in relationships. First, the relational literature has generally studied extreme and highly salient violations in relationships. Second, much of the research on relationship violations has considered only negatively valenced behaviors. Third, violations have almost universally been assumed to increase uncertainty states. Finally, the available evidence about violations in relationship has been descriptive, rather than based on theoretical foundations. In order to address these four concerns, three studies of violations in relationships were conducted. The results (i) provide a typology of expectation violations in close relationships, (ii) confirm that relationship violations vary in intensity, valence and effect on uncertainty, and (iii) support the theoretical logic discussed in Afifi & Burgoon (1996) to predict the relationship outcomes of expectation violations.