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Staying friends with ex‐romantic partners: Predictors, reasons, and outcomes
Author(s) -
GRIFFITH REBECCA L.,
GILLATH OMRI,
ZHAO XIAN,
MARTINEZ RICHARD
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/pere.12197
Subject(s) - psychology , friendship , romance , civility , social psychology , developmental psychology , hostility , personality , psychoanalysis , politics , political science , law
In two studies, we identified predictors of staying friends with an ex‐partner, developed and validated a measure for reasons to stay friends with exes, and examined the outcomes of staying friends. We identified four reasons to stay friends with exes: Security , Practical , Civility , and Unresolved Romantic Desires . Sex, sexual orientation, attachment styles, personality traits, time since breakup, and reasons for breakup all predicted staying friends. Staying friends due to Unresolved Romantic Desires resulted in negative outcomes, whereas staying friends due to Security and Practical reasons resulted in more positive outcomes. Staying friends due to Practical or Civility reasons resulted in the friendship being less likely to last in the long term. Implications for future research and clinical work are discussed.