Interpersonal Relationship

The battle of the sexes heats up in Columbia Pictures comedy The Ugly Truth. Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She's in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

Courtesy of the official website : http://www.thetruthisntpretty.com/

For the detailed synopsis, please visit the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Truth_(film)

Above is the synopsis for the movie The Ugly Truth, which was screened in Singapore theatres on 17th September. According to Knapp’s model of relational development, there are 10 stages in a relationship. Stages 1-5 are coming together and stages 6-10 are coming apart. The first time the two protagonists met is known as initiating. Stage 2: experimenting was when Mike helped Abby to win Colin’s heart. Mike got to know Abby really well after interacting with her during the coaching process. Stage 3 took place at a much later time in a pub. It was when Abby realised that Mike actually thinks the same way as her – the “we” thinking (relational identity). Stage 4: integrating was skipped and they proceeded onto Stage 5: bonding which was shown at the last scene in the movie.

However, for the case of Colin and Abby, they went through the Knapp’s model from stage 1 to 4, but they skipped stage 5 and proceeded on to stage 6 – differentiating. This is where Abby decided to be truthful about her feelings towards Colin and that sealed up the channels of communication between them. Stage 10: terminating occurred when the relationship ceased to exist and the parties moved on from the relationship and Abby managed to develop a new relationship with Mike.

Abby was attracted to the physical appearance of Colin and this general perception of physical attractiveness exerts a consistent positive impact on the relational formation. The judgement of physical attractiveness in this case was influenced by the societal norms. Some conditions Colin had that made him attractive, according to the cultural norms, was handsome, financially stable, successful career and muscular. These were some of the criteria which he possessed that attracted Abby. The impact of physical appearance diminished over the course of the relationship between them. Abby realised she does not really like Colin’s character and feels that he is too good for her and eventually, developed feelings for Mike instead.

We tend to form relationships with the people around us and this does not exclude Abby and Mike. They were colleagues in the television company and hence, there is a greater opportunity for them to interact. This reduces the uncertainties about one another. By falling in love with one another, they reciprocate their feelings and this minimises risks. The perception that someone likes another serves as a form of validation and in turn boosts his or her self esteem.

 However, both of them did not realise their similarity in character in the beginning when they met. In fact, Abby detested Mike and felt disgusted by him. After interacting with him and self disclosure, the sharing of information about self that the other person is unlikely to know, Abby realised that her thinking is somewhat similar to Mike’s.

It takes two to maintain a relationship and according to the Equity Theory, individuals in relationships seek to maintain a balance of costs and rewards that are relatively equal to those of their partners. The balance maintains the long-term viability of the relationship. Therefore, the under-benefiting will suffer and the over-benefiting will rationalise. If you are giving more than what you are receiving or vice versa, then you should be concerned as there would be a higher risk of dissoution of this relationship.

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