Just as "Old soldiers never

die; they just fade

away." This truism can be

rewritten as: "Old business

relationships never end;

they just fizzle to a close."

1) Fait accompli : Explicitly stating that the relationship is over without

allowing your partner to talk about your decision.

You say it's over and that there isn't any room for

discussion or compromise.

People who use this strategy don't usually give any

reason or justification for the break-up; they just end

it.

2) State of the relationship talk:

Explicitly stating that you are dissatisfied with the

relationship and want it to end.

This usually occurs during a mutual discussion about

the relationship's problems and why it has to end.

3) Fading away:

An implicit understanding of the relationship's

end.

Here, one or both partners may just fade away

with little talk about how, when, or why the

relationship is over.

4) Attributional conflict:

Engaging in conflict about why the end of the

relationship is inevitable.

This is where you argue over whether the

relationship should end or continue, but

about why the relationship is not working

out.

Subsequently, this conflict usually causes the

relationship to be over.

5) Negotiated farewell:

Explicitly discussing the end of a relationship

in a civil manner without conflict, malice, or

resistance.

Here, partners generally agree that the

relationship shouldn't continue and that they

should part ways.

Withdrawal: Reducing frequency of contact and intimacy through the use of various avoidance behaviors. Essentially, this is where you start to avoid the other person.

Pseudo-de-escalation:Telling your partner that you'd like a different kind of relationship when you actually want to end the relationship. This strategy is called 'pseudo' because people who use it usually don't want to just reduce closeness or de-escalate. Instead, they usually want to end the relationship.

Cost escalation: Increasing the costs in a relationship. This is where you become increasingly rude, abusive, inconsiderate, or combative so that your partner won't want to be in the relationship anymore. You basically force the other person to break up with you.