The choice to enter and leave a romantic relationship can be
framed as a decision-making problem based on expected
utility of the partnership over time, akin to a forager deciding
whether to stay in a particular patch based on the amount of
resources it provides. We examined the temporal trajectory of
three traits that may correspond to resources in romantic
relationships—trust, love, and satisfaction—to determine
whether they behave like depleting or replenishing patches
from a foraging perspective. All three rise over time in intact
relationships—suggesting replenishment—but plateau or fall
in dissolved relationships—suggesting depletion. Survival
analysis demonstrated that higher ratings of all three quality
variables decreased the risk of romantic dissolution. The
results suggest that these cues are lower in dissolved
relationships, indicating individuals could potentially use
them as cues for leaving an unsatisfactory relationship patch
via aspiration-level cognitive mechanisms.