Romantic Relationship Termination 183as a disengagement strategy predicts poor friendship quality (Busboom, Collins,
Givertz, & Levin, 2002).
Mutual desire for disengagement also influences postdissolution relationships. If
both partners mutually decide to breakup, the likelihood of being friends increases
(Hackathorn, Clark, Mattingly, Bullock, & Weaver, 2008). This outcome may be
related to the feelings partners have for one another at the time of breakup. For
example, if both partners believe that the breakup was for the best and neither
partner feels particularly disparaged, then the feelings between them may be more
positive. However, if only one partner desired the breakup, then the other may expe-
rience hostility and anger that can negatively impact future reconciliation, whether
as friends or romantic partners.
Postdissolution Dyadic Contact and Communication
Former partners’ communication styles and exchanges also influence postdisso-
lution relationships. Ex- partners who use a disputing communication style (for
example, when couples argue about, rather than discuss, important issues within
the relationship) often view each other as more hostile and obstructed, thus mak-
ing any kind of friendship difficult (Issacs & Leon, 1988). In contrast, former
partners who have exchanges involving self- disclosure consider each other more
reliable and trustworthy (Lambert & Hughes, 2010), which may be beneficial to a
postdissolution friendship. Additionally, when ex- partners communicate in a way
that generates feelings of understanding, empathy, and responsiveness, they report
increased satisfaction in their communication. Therefore, interactions between
ex- partners can greatly affect perceptions of one another and the possibility of a
friendship.
The level of dyadic contact can vary depending on the sexual orientation of
the couples. For example, Lannutti and Cameron (2002) found that homosexu-
als indicated a moderate amount of interpersonal contact in their postdissolution
relationships while heterosexuals reported low amounts of interpersonal contact in
their postdissolution relationships. For homosexual couples, the less time since the
breakup, the more the ex- partners shared a social network, the higher the perceived
uniqueness of the relationship (e.g., perceiving the ex- partner as unlike most people
in their life), and the more the person liked the ex- partner, all positively predicted
the amount of interpersonal contact in the postdissolution relationship. For hetero-
sexual couples, the extent to which the participant had personal norms for break-
ups (e.g., prior experience staying friends with ex- partners, feeling it is important to
stay friends), hoped for romantic renewal, and liked the ex- partner, predicted more
interpersonal contact. These results highlight the influence of personal variables on
dyadic contact in postdissolution relationships in both homosexual and heterosex-
ual samples. It has been suggested that such personal variables are extensions of the
aspects that initially attracted the couple to the romance and that these personal