The Importance of Healthy Interpersonal Relationships for People

As part our development as humans we have a need to communicate with others. Throughout each stage of our lives we are faced with different and new circumstances in which we must meet people and connect with them so that we can grow and develop our understanding and outlook on life. As we know, there are certain relationships that are formed that have a large impact on our lives than others and we can note that there can be both positive and negative aspects and outcomes of these relationships on our development as people. We can refer to these relationships as ‘interpersonal relationships.’ “An everyday description of this kind of relationship will refer to its long-lasting nature; the fact that the persons spend much time together, do many things together, and (often) share living or working quarters; the intercommunication of personal information and feelings; and the likelihood that the persons see themselves as a unit and are seen that way by others.”

There are several types of interpersonal relationships and it is likely that most people have more than one type of interpersonal relationship ongoing throughout their lives. Included in the list are the relationship between husband and wife, friends, between siblings, parents and their children, romantic relationships and other peer relationships such as work colleagues or classmates. From early years, the people that we spend our time with start to influence our behaviours and therefore it is important that we manage our interpersonal relationships well so that we are only in healthy relationships.

There are many benefits of healthy interpersonal relationships and these are the ones which help us to succeed and fulfil our life goals. Close personal relationships can offer us a feeling of belonginess and allows us to feel that we are accepted and included. This can help us to see our self-worth and will have a positive effect on our mental health. Personal relationships also provide us with emotional integration where we can have someone to discuss our emotions with and therefore, we can understand why we feel a certain way. This allows us to accept our feelings and prepare to overcome this state. Another positive aspect of interpersonal relationships is that we have a mode of support and can offer support to the other person. There are two aspects of supporting someone, which are physical and material support which may involve helping to cover the cost of living with the other person.

The other is giving and receiving a sense of self-worth and value by providing emotional support and guidance in the relationship. Another benefit of being in a close relationship with someone is that it gives us an opportunity for self-disclosure and to be listened to by someone who cares. “Self-disclosure may increase mental health by leading to an increase in self-concept, which corelates with a large number of important interpersonal variables, e.g., self-acceptance, feelings of security, and a greater tolerance for a wider range of behaviour from others.” We become ‘role-bearers’ as such, when we are in an interpersonal relationship. For example, as a mother we are there to listen to our children’s needs and offer support such as emotional or financial. In studies of interpersonal relationships, a theory which is widely discussed is called ‘The Social Exchange Theory’ which “seeks to explain the development, maintenance (e.g., solidarity, power), and decay of exchange relationships in terms of the balance between the rewards that [marital] partners obtain and the costs that they incur by selecting themselves into [marital] relationships”. When we form a new close relationship, people tend to expect equal levels of giving and receiving support. Whether it is emotional support or material support it is important that each person feels they are getting back the effort they are putting into a relationship. Therefore, often relationships can break down when this level of support is not given as they may believe ‘it is not worth the effort’.

The interpersonal relationship that I have decided to research is peer relationships. Peer relationships can include work colleges whether it be full time work or part time work, or it could be classmates in school or university. It is important to form a strong relationship with peers because we often spend a lot of time in either school/university, or in work, depending on what stage of life we are at. Therefore, these relationships give the opportunity to connect and form a strong support network with people we spend a large amount of time with. When we are in our early years, it is important to form good interpersonal relationships because the support received from a young age will affect our ability to socialise and communicate for the rest of our lives. Research from Cohen, S., Sherrod, D. R., & Clark, M. S. (1986) was used in another study which found “recent studies of social support suggest that people who are interpersonally competent are more likely to build and use networks of relationships that provide support in the face of stressful life events.” Therefore, it is imperative that from a young age, children create strong bonds in their close relationships to build the ability to cope with different situations in the most positive way possible.

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