A First Look at Talk in On-Again/Off-Again Romantic Relationships: Challenges in Relational Maintenance.

The article presents a study which analyzes the talk within on/off relationships to gain insight into the challenges that all romantic relationships experience in their development. It highlights relational vulnerabilities that are revealed and managed through the discourse of partners in on/off relationships. The results indicates that the management of relational vulnerabilities is part of the interpersonal communication process that is present in romantic relationships in general.