Psychologists reveal a point that your relationship is ‘convicted’ star-news.press/wp

When the connection is over, it often feels sudden, but the new research suggest cracks to start shaping years before the final split.

According to the New Study of Professor of Janina Bühler from Johannes Gutenberg, Mainz and Ulrich Orth from the University of Bern, most relationships go through a predictable drop in satisfaction much before it reaches the breaking point.

Researchers have found that relationship satisfaction usually begins to gradually decline more than a few years, hitting a critical “transition point” about one to two years before the connection ends. From that moment, the pleasure gets worse.

“The doubles in question then move towards separation,” Bühler said in the statement.

Two stages of the rise of relationship

Researchers analyzed data from 11,295 individuals in four national studies carried out in Germany, Australia, Great Britain and the Netherlands – all “strange” or “Western, educated, industrial” nations, where individuals can choose their relationship.

Studies have taken the satisfaction of the relationship compared to the period in the range of 12-21 years.

Instead of looking at pleasure during the relationship, Bühler and Orth, he questioned how the pleasure evolved in time leading to break-up. Their analysis identified two phases of the fall:

• “Premiable phase”: This early phase may take several years and is marked with a slow and gradual falling of satisfaction.
• “Terminal phase”: After struck by the “transition point”, satisfaction suddenly falls, lasts between seven and 28 months.

“Once this terminal phase is achieved, the relationship was convicted of the end,” Bühler said. “This is obvious from the fact that only individuals in the group separation pass through this terminal phase, not a control group.”

It is interesting that the study has revealed that partners usually do not experience these phases at the same time. A person who initiates the breakdown often becomes dissatisfied much earlier, feeling fall for a long period. Meanwhile, another partner can only notice the deterioration just before breaking up.

“Partners pass through various stages,” Bühler explained. “They usually don’t separate from one day to another, and the way these phases affect two partners differ.” This delayed consciousness can explain why some termination seems to come “from nothing” for one partner.

Can I stop the breakup?

Studies findings suggest that time is crucial when it comes to interventions. According to Bühler, many water couples help too late – often after the transition point when the pleasure is already falling.

“Therefore, it is important to be aware of these relationship patterns. The measures in the early stage of the relationship, ie, even to preserve relations,” said the preservation of relations, “said and preserving the relationship,” Bühler said.

For couples hoping to avoid the inevitable cleft, recognizing these early signs can be key to repairing relationships before it is too late.

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Reference

Bühler, JL and Orth, U. (2025). Terminal decline in the satisfaction in romantic relationships: evidence from four longitudinal studies. A journal for personality and social psychology.