Can We Be (and Stay) Friends? Remaining Friends After Dissolution of a Romantic Relationship

Although many individuals report being friends with their ex-romantic partners (Wilmot, Carbaugh, & Baxter, 1985 Wilmot, W. W., Carbaugh, D. A. and Baxter, L. A. 1985. Communicative strategies used to terminate romantic relationships. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 49: 204–216. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), the literature regarding post-romantic friendships is very limited. We investigated whether satisfaction in the dissolved romantic relationship could predict post-romantic friendships and friendship maintenance. We found that the more satisfied individuals were during the dissolved romance, the more likely they were to remain friends and the more likely they were to engage in friendship maintenance behaviors. We also found that friendship maintenance fully mediated the association between past romantic satisfaction and current friendship satisfaction.