From Normal Conflict to Normative Deviance: The Micro-Politics of Trouble in Close Relationships

When people experience trouble in their relations with others, they may come to define the problem in nonjudgmental ways as a conflict to be resolved or in moralistic terms as a product of the other’s deviant intentions or character. Empirical materials on troubles among college roommates reveal an initial preference for the former, with the latter typically emerging if and when initial response efforts fail and the trouble escalates. These findings force a revision of analyses that take up consideration of the conflict/deviance alternative only with the entrance of a third party into dyadic troubles.