When you are in a relationship you are putting an immense amount of trust into one person.  You trust he or she won't tell anyone your deepest secrets, you trust he or she will always hold you, and you trust that he or she will always stay loyal to you.  We learn from the case study of "Serious Challenges in Interpersonal Relationships: Betrayal in the Case of Chris and Sandy," what can happen once this trust is broken.

      Sarah and Chris have known each other since grade school and became best friends instantly.  When high school came around their relationship was seen as one to admire.  Everyone wished they had a relationship like Sarah and Chris's.  The two had each others back, they were always laughing together, and they knew everything about each other.  When college came Sarah and Chris started to become more intimate together.  Chris always made sure that Sarah was okay and they both were there for each other in a heart beat.  Then everything changed when Chris got a feeling that Sarah wasn't being as loyal as she said she was.  There was a rumor going around that Sarah was seeing another guy from a different school.  Chris and Sarah did a good job of keeping their intimate relationship a secret,  and this caused problems when people told Chris the stories.  Someone who didn't know Sarah and Chris were lovers, would come up to Chris and tell him that he saw Sarah with another guy at the local hook up place. After Chris heard this he went around asking people what they had heard about Sarah and many confirmed she had been seeing another guy.  Chris was crushed and so angry that Sarah had the guts to betray him like that, especially after everything they had been through together.  Chris brought up the rumors to Sarah and she confirmed them.  After Chris found out the truth their relationship took a terrible turn.  Chris talked about Sarah like she meant nothing to him and she had never helped him out.  Sarah did not say too many negative things about Chris.  Chris was speaking out of anger, while Sarah was speaking out of guilt.  Their relationship never recovered and they began to act like strangers that had never met.  

      There are many different aspects of this case we can analysis, like their coordination.  Sandy does an act and Chris interprets what she did. Then Chris acts and Sandy interprets what he said or did, then she acts.  This cycle keeps going on.  When coordination is good the process feels organized and understandable.  In high school, Sandy and Chris were close and everything was organized between each other.  When Sandy begins this relationship with another guy, the way she acted with Chris was different. Then Chris interpreted it as something was wrong. Co-orientation is when two people in the relationship have a common focus, concern, or interest.  Sandy and Chris's co-orientation changes because Sandy has another relationship that is more important to her, and this causes the coordination to suffer and the relationship fall apart between the two high school lovers.  

      Next we can look at what type of state Sarah and Chris were in when their relationship changed.  When Chris found out about Sarah and this new guy he was hurt, angry, and jealous.  He expressed his anger through venting by talking to his friend and through attack by making rude remarks about Sarah to other people.  When someone is jealous it is a mix of anger, hurt, and grieving because he or she just lost something that was once important. Chris expresses this by giving Sarah the silent treatment and retaliating against her by spreading rumors.  Lastly Chris is hurt and he expresses this through being acquiesce with the situation or giving up on trying to save any type of relationship.   Sarah on the other hand is acting out of guilt.  She feels terrible that she hurt Chris but her new guy meant a lot to her.  She expressed her guilt through a little bit of justification but mainly avoidance.  To her friend that we hear the story from, Sarah does justify why she did what she did and how she felt about it.  Sarah does not want to talk to Chris about it and she avoids talking to him as long as possible.  After she told Chris the truth she also avoids the aftermath by telling people Chris is a great person and not giving anyone the juicy details they want.  

       I can see where Chris is coming from when he acts out of jealousy and anger.  I have been in a situation in some ways like this, and I acted completely stupid.  Your emotions get the best of you and sometimes it is hard to stop and think, "Is this really worth it?"  Relationships are hard to lose especially when you care about the other person.  Unfortunately Chris and Sarah cannot mend their relationship back together, but that is understandable.  However, I do believe that in some situations the relationship can be repaired because at one point that person meant the world to you.