The Breakup of Romantic Relationships: Situational Predictors of Perception of Recovery

We examined a range of predictors that might influence the speed with which people recover emotionally from the breakup of a romantic relationship, focusing specifically on concrete, situational variables, including initiator status, presence of social support, length of relationship, amount of time the couple typically spent together day-today, how much in love participants were, how soon they began dating again, how many previous relationships they had, and how often they saw their ex after the breakup. The results showed that relationship length and how quickly the individual began dating someone new were predictors of recovery from the breakup of a romantic relationship. Gender differences were also examined.