Attribution in the Termination of Close Relationships: A Special Focus on the Account

Abstract

This chapter argues that as self-reports, accounts are a valuable means for understanding the actors and events of a close relationship. Accounts provide clues about the individual respondents, the groups with whom they are involved, and the historical contexts surrounding them. The chapter provide clues about the gamut of psychological processes attendant to the termination of close relationships—from penetrating rational analysis to unmitigated panic and fright. The basic assumption behind the argument that accounts occur most frequently around the time of the end of relationships is that account making serves the human's drive for homeostasis in all physical and psychological systems. The question of accuracy in social perception, or about the criteria for assessing accuracy, is recurrent in the literature of social psychology. The relating of accounts, and their precise themes, may be strongly influenced by cultural values as cued by the media.