Months Before Either Partner Realizes Their Relationship Is Tanking – Evidence Of An Impending Breakup May Exist In Everyday Conversation
When doubts about a relationship start to creep in, people don’t just blurt them out. They might not want to worry their partner and figure they’ll ride out what could just be a rough patch. They probably think they can hide their feelings pretty easily.
But it turns out, hidden signs of their turmoil appear in the way they communicate.
In our recently published study, we were able to show that people’s language subtly changes in the months and weeks leading up to a breakup – well before they’ve made a conscious decision to end things.
Mining Reddit for cracks
Breakups are difficult to research. They unfold over weeks, months – even years. To truly understand the dynamics of a breakup, researchers should, ideally, be able to track people’s lives before, during and after the breakup takes...