Exploring the Link Between Relationship Cycling and Aggression in Challenging Romantic Relationships

Abstract

Purpose

The current study aimed to explicate the link between relationship cycling (breaking up and renewing) and aggression. The goals were to: (1) assess if different types of aggression were more prevalent in cyclical as compared to non-cyclical relationships, and (2) determine how conflict management and relational dependence might explain the association between cycling and aggression.

Methods

Using CloudResearch.com, longitudinal data across four months from 177 individuals in challenging relationships were collected. Participants completed up to six surveys three weeks apart. Psychological and physical violence as well as coercive control were assessed as indicators of aggression; participants rated both their own and their partners’ aggression. Aggression, conflict, and relational dependence were collected at each timepoint in addition to the occurrence of breakups and renewals. Cyclical and non-cyclical categorizations were determined by the baseline data.

Results

Cyclical partners (as compared to non-cyclical) were more likely to experience unidirectional, severe violence and control and less likely to report no violence or control in their relationships. Analyses also showed that managing conflict ineffectively was associated with violence and control (particularly by participants’ partners), and participants’ relational dependence was associated with their own controlling behaviors towards their partners. In assessing relational transitions, aggression, conflict, and dependence all predicted breakups across four months; yet, only aggression predicted renewals.

Conclusion

Overall, findings suggest aggression leads to cycling (i.e., renewals). Additionally, more dynamic, interactive processes (e.g., conflict management) might explicate the link between aggression and relational transitions better than more stable relational qualities (e.g., relational dependence).