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Communication, Listening, and Understanding.
The first component, which states that relational maintenance involves keeping a relationship in existence, is very important to understand. Various scholars agreed that communication is the essence to maintaining a relationship, regardless of how it was performed. First, one must recognize the relationship they are in. Second, one must not forget that in the relationship there is more than one person involved. In order to keep the relationship in existence, according to John Gottman Ph.D. (1995), one must be actively interested, affectionate, show that they care, appreciative, show concern, empathic, accepting and be able to share joy with the other person. To keep the relationship in existence basically means to keep the relationship on going, changeable and unpredictable. How one manages to do this is by always communicating effectively, both verbally and non-verbally. For example: wearing a wedding band is a nonverbal symbol that demonstrates to your partner that your relationship is on going and steady. If one removes the wedding band and decides to not wear it for a few days, it can demonstrate to your partner that there is a problem, and you do not want others to know you are married. Verbal communication is talking:.
Talk is the essence of relational maintenance not only because it achieves the discussion and assessment of relational exchanges or provides some of the topics for it, but also because it serves to do something that communication scholars have long attributed to political speeches and other forms of public address. Like these other declarations, everyday talk presents a rhetorical vision and hence projects a continued future for the relationship. (Duck, 1994, p 52).
This primarily means that conversations, small talk, or simply talk in general keeps the relationship in existence. Overall, "a multitude of everyday communicative interactive behaviors define and redefine the relationship- (Duck, 1994, p 52), our everyday talk is what keeps us on-going and basically defines the relationship, thus being marriage.
