Relational factors and their association with romantic breakups

Sánchez-Porro D.; Fuertes A.; Orgaz B.; Silva J. · Interdisciplinaria (2026) · DOI: 10.16888/interd.2026.43.1.10

Resumen

Romantic relationships represent a sign of identity in emerging adulthood (Bravo, 2018). Young adults show a particular interest in exploring different romantic options throughout their lives (Smith et al., 2012). However, these relationships are not intended to be long-lasting (Sassler et al., 2016), what entails, inevitably, the experience of a couple breakup. That is why various relational factors that anticipate the break have been studied, such as attachment, conflict resolution strategies and the quality of the relationship, as well as the influence of gender differences, which according to research carried out in recent years indicates that the influence that education poses received by both men and women has an impact on how they perceive and give meaning to the dynamics of sentimental relationships (García & Ilabaca, 2013). There are two main objects in the study. The first one is based on analyzing the relational factors - attachment in the relationship, conflict resolution strategies and relationship quality- that are associated with the occurrence of a breakup in a relationship. While the second objective seeks to analyze the differences that can be realized in these relational variables based on gender. In this regard, four working hypotheses are derived from this: 1) subjects who present higher levels of anxiety and avoidance in their dangling attachment relationship are more likely to experience a romantic breakup; 2) the subjects who make greater use of destructive conflict resolution strategies during their relationship present a greater tendency to have a romantic breakup; 3) the subjects who have lower bases in the quality of the relationship are more likely to suffer a couple breakup, and 4) women in this study, in comparison with men, will have higher in the anxious dimension of attachment, in the use of destructive conflict resolution strategies, but will have lower in the quality of the relationship. From a total sample of 160 subjects (80 who remained in a relationship and 80 who had suffered a romantic breakup), and through two research phases separated by 12 months, it has been evaluated the levels of attachment, the quality in the relationship and the use of conflict resolution strategies. Descriptive statistics were obtained for all variables and reliability coefficients were calculated. To respond the objective of the study, a logistic regression analysis was performed taking a significance level of α = .05. Attachment avoidance (M = 1.82; DT = .79), confrontation conflict resolution strategies (M = 2.14; DT = .90) and low levels of quality of relationship (M = 4.33; SD = .52) lead to sentimental breakup. On the other hand, women are more prone to more demanding and confrontational roles, while men opt for more conformist attitudes in couple dynamics. The study variables are important to predict the future of a relationship. High levels of attachment avoidance favour the occurrence of break-up, which is in line with the position that subjects with high avoidance scores adopt in relation to intimacy in the couple. On the other hand, maintaining conflicts with a high stress and hostility load can lead the couple to failure despite positive experiences. Likewise, quality relationships are associated with longer relationship duration because they represent a favourable setting for both personal and interpersonal development. Finally, regarding gender differences, we observed that the use of conflict resolution strategies responds to habitual patterns deployed by each gender, where women take on a more confrontational role and men shy away from discussions. What seems clear is that breakups are experienced in a unique way by everyone.