The Cascade Model of Relational Dissolution is a relational communications theory that proposes four negative behaviors that lead to the breakdown of marital and romantic relationships.[1] This theory focuses on the negative influence of nonverbal communication habits on the success and/or failure of marriages and other relationships.[1] Gottman’s model uses a metaphor that compares the four negative communication styles that lead to the breakdown of a relationship to the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.[1]
This model is the work of psychological researcher John Gottman, a professor at the University of Washington and founder of The Gottman Institute and his research partner Robert W. Levenson.[2] Gottman and Levenson's research focuses on differentiating failed and successful marriages and notes that nonverbal emotional displays progress in a linear pattern, creating a negative emotional and physical response that leads to withdrawal.[1] Prior to the development of the model (1992-1994) little research had been conducted that focused on finding specific interactive behaviors and processes that resulted in marital dissatisfaction, separation, and divorce.[3][4] Additionally, Gottman and Levenson's research indicated that not all negative interactions, like anger, are predictive of relational separation and divorce.[3] Gottman and Levenson's research notes that the "cascade toward relational dissolution" can be predicted by the regulation, or non-regulation, of positive to negative interactions of couples, with couples that regulated their positive-to-negative interactions being significantly less likely to experience the cascade.[3]
^ abcdKnapp, M.L., Daly, John A. (2002). Handbook of interpersonal communication. SAGE Publications. p. 270. ISBN0-7619-2160-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
