Contact:
Contact is the first stage in the six-stage relationship model. There is not a day that goes by that we do not engage in a form of contact with another human being. There are two formal steps in the contact stage- perceptual contact and interactional contact. Perceptual contact involves using some of your senses, mainly sight, smell, and hearing, to get a physical picture of a person. In this step, we automatically determine the person’s gender, and makes assumptions about their age, height, occupation, and so on. Perceptual contact is especially important because physical appearance is the characteristic most readily available to the initial development of attraction.
Then comes the step of interactional contact. This is where people initiate interaction and engage in mainly superficial communication. Both verbal and nonverbal behaviors are utilized in this step. Within the first few minutes of initial interaction, most people are able to decide whether they want to pursue the relationship or not.
Watch the video below for good advice on how to approach a person you are interested in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QV674dsY0A
Involvement:
During this stage, you begin sharing your feelings and emotions with the other person, along with more detailed information regarding your life. If you are looking to develop a romantic relationship, then this will occur while going on dates. If it is to be a friendship, then you engage in activities that you are both interested in- such as shopping, going to the movies, exercising, listening to music, or playing video games.
An important component of this stage is the fact that partners are always testing each other. In other words, each person is trying to gauge how the relationship is doing and whether the other person wants it to develop into something more. We do this by paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues and analyzing them- (admittedly, sometimes over analyzing them).
Take a look at this site for some great dating tips for singles and couples!: http://dating.about.com/od/datingissues/u/DatingTips.htm
Intimacy:
The third relationship stage, intimacy, is when you are probably closest to the other person. Your communication is honest, personalized, open, and easier. There are two phases in the intimacy stage- interpersonal committment and social bonding. The first is when both individuals commit themselves to each other in a private way. The latter is when that committment is made public; for example, revealing it to family and friends. A natural part of intimacy is also increasing your affiliative cues, which are signs that show your love for the other person.
There are many different types of committment. Some of which are traditional (engagement, marriage, living together), and some of which are less traditional (agreeing to become lovers- i.e. “friends with benefits”, online relationships).
Watch this video for an informative explanation of intimacy regarding all types of relationships:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHroBJdoLDY
Deterioration:
When a relationship, is past the intimacy stage it goes into a stage called deterioration. This means that the bond that a relationship once had weakens. Some ways that a relationship can deteriorate are when the reasons why people come together change drastically and when a relationship never maximizes the pleasures that were once within it.
Here is a link to an example of relationship deterioration:
Repair:
To repair a relationship you have to look within yourself, analyze what went wrong, and think about different ways that your relationship can be fixed. One of the things that can be done to fix a relationship is changing your behaviors and your expectations of your partner. You can also make a list of pros and cons on your relationship, as well as what would happen if your relationship ended. If you want to repair your relationship, you can try to talk to your partner and work it out on an interpersonal level.
Example:
Jamie and Sara had been fighting for the last two years and their relationship had been deteriorating ever since. So a month after the biggest fight of their relationship they decided to break up. While they were apart, they didn’t realize how much they missed each other. As a result, they decided to look within themselves, change their behaviors, and contact each other to work it out.
Dissolution:
The ending of a relationship or friendship between two people, is the last thing that anyone would want to happen. A relationship or friendship can dissolve at any point for a number of reasons, including: the bond between the two individuals is strained, the person in the friendship/relationship starts dating someone else, and one person will not allow the other to see their friends. Some of these reasons are why a relationship goes into the dissolution stage and is never repaired.
Example:
When I was in high school, I had a friend (whose name will not be mentioned) that was very nice and was looking for someone to be friends with. She had seemed like a nice person, so we developed a friendship bond. The friendship lasted until my junior year in high school and that’s when it started to dissolve. It ended because she was a back stabber. Unfortunately, I did not find out about it until I heard from another person that she was talking about me behind my back the entire time I was friends with her.
Introduction To Human Communication 