When life happens: A multidimensional approach to studying the effects of major life events on relationship change

Abstract

Network theories and life course theories have made significant contributions to the study of relationship change over time. However, much prior work takes a unidimensional approach and conceptualizes “change” in terms of the loss of a tie or the loss of a specific function of a tie. Our paper problematizes “loss” in two ways. First, we conceptualize tie status in terms of active, inactive, and fully dissolved as reported by respondents. Second, we propose a multidimensional approach to studying the relationship change as the result of experiencing major life events. Our main innovation is synthesizing network theories and life course theories to produce a framework for studying relationship change that incorporates types of ties, experiencing major life events, and their interacting effects on specific aspects of the relationship. Based on analyzing a sample of 687 ties collected from 98 respondents, we argue that life events do not have sweeping influence across different types of ties or different aspects of ties. Instead, relationship change in response to life events can occur in changes in the active status of the tie, the interactive aspect of the tie, and the affective aspect of the tie, and which aspects change is dependent on the type of relationship.