Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study explores the role of geographic distance in dating partners’ talk during courtship. Results indicate partners in long-distance dating relationships (LDDRs), relative to those in geographically-close dating relationships (GCDRs), engage in more intimacy-focused everyday speech events. Intimacy-focused interaction also comprises a larger proportion of LDDR partners’ everyday talk. LDDR partners, moreover, were found to dissipate taboo topic and conflict avoidance, as well as positive selective self-presentation, at slower rates throughout courtship. Similarly, LDDR partners appear less likely than GCDR partners to discuss (over time) what relational scholars identify as critical relational issues (e.g., views on marriage, family, and career) for informed relational escalation. We propose many LDDRs persist in a state of suspended partner knowledge acquisition, a kind of “uninformed interdependence”, whereby “knowledge-enhancing talk” occurs less frequently, and unfolds less readily over time.