Introduction

Once the beginning stages of relationships have passed, couples can and will experience conflict every now and then. In efforts to avoid such situations, people turn to different forms of communication strategies. One of the biggest things people think about is what to reveal and what to keep concealed, even after being in a relationship with someone for a long period of time (McLaren & Steuber, 2013). Most couples can’t be 100% honest all the time, as feelings can get hurt and fights can take place that don’t need to happen (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). 

Marvel’s television show, Wandavision, explores a very similar dynamic between its two protagonists: Wanda and Vision. The first season’s plot focuses on how Wanda copes with the losses of her twin brother and, most importantly, the love of her life, Vision. In her grieving process, Wanda takes captive an entire town and its inhabitants, creating a false alternate universe that she controls. She revives Vision to consciousness, where as long as he lives in the parameters of her controlled world, he can survive. He is unaware of the truth that Wanda is behind all of this. He believes that this is real life. As the first nine episodes progress, we see that Wanda deceives Vision, by withholding the truth from him and not disclosing a lot of what is really on her mind. 

Previous research on disclosure in intimate relationships tends to focus on how disclosure brings the couple closer. There is limited research on how disclosure could push people apart. Internal conflict, debating what to reveal and what to keep private, is one with which many people like Wanda struggle. People don’t want to cause harm, hurt or lose their partner altogether. In other words, full truth and disclosure could cause conflict and make things worse (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). For these reasons, I will investigate the extent to which self-disclosure can cause conflict in established romantic relationships. 

Most previous studies focus on how self-disclosure is directly related to relational satisfaction, i.e. being happy in one’s relationship (Vito, 1998). By conducting a case study on the relationship between Wanda and Vision, the goal of my study is to challenge this idea and propose further research to fill in the gaps of knowledge in how complete disclosure can be a source of conflict for certain relationships. The implications of these findings would serve as clarity in the decision-making process many individuals entail, in the tension between what to keep private and what to share with their significant partners. 

By watching the first season of Wandavision, I will be analyzing the relationship between Wanda and Vision through the frames of Interpersonal Deception Theory and Communication Privacy Management Theory. The first theory explains how inhibiting disclosure in relationships can be perceived and classified as a form of deception. The second theory helps explain the decision making processes in choosing what to share and what to keep private. Through these frames, the relationship between self-disclosure and conflict can be further explored.

Literature Review 

Wandavision was released in January 2021 on the DisneyPlus streaming service. Although its viewership data has not yet been released, it was estimated that Wandvision earned around 4.8 billion minutes watched for its first and only season (Hayes, 2021). The series has been deemed one of DisneyPlus’s most popular shows, out of some of Marvel’s latest releases such as Falcon & Winter Soldier, and The Mandalorian. Fans of the Marvel franchise were very invested in this show, as its plot followed up the aftermath of the hit movie, Avengers: End Game. 

The series focuses on Wanda dealing with the loss of Vision, her significant other. As DisneyPlus decided to only release a thirty-minute episode per week, fans were encouraged to patiently wait for the entire plot to unfold. The couple is portrayed as very happy at the beginning of the series, however, as the episodes progress week by week, the numerous secrets Wanda beholds are slowly uncovered. 

As previously stated, my analysis of the relationship between Wanda and Vision uses Interpersonal Deception Theory and Communication Privacy Management Theory to explain how and why people in established romantic relationships choose to reveal or conceal information. In order to explain the process of making this decision, as well as its implications, I will use the concepts of self-disclosure, relational satisfaction, conflict management and deception.

Self Disclosure & Relational Satisfaction

 Self-disclosure is a concept that numerous scholars have explored. A number of communication theories explain the importance disclosure plays in the initiation, maintenance, and termination stages of relationships. One definition of self-disclosure is the process of when individuals confide in others, by expressing their attitudes, perceptions, and doubts to one another (Vito, 1998). 

This study focuses on the implications of self-disclosure on established romantic relationships. Two factors that help define and explain what makes an established romantic relationship is the levels of relational satisfaction and relational adjustment.  Relational satisfaction is how happy an individual is in their relationship, whereas relational adjustment is an individual’s ability to adjust and compromise in that given relationship (Vito, 1998). Both of these factors overlap and reinforce one another. Satisfaction and adjustment almost function as forms of measurement, determining where two people are at in a romantic relationship. Most often individuals look at these two factors as the ultimate goal to achieve, and therefore many scholars study what causes high levels of relational satisfaction and adjustment, as well as the implications of reaching them. 

Several studies point towards a positive relationship between self-disclosure and both relational satisfaction and adjustment. More specifically, when individuals partake in high levels of self-disclosure, Vito (1998) found this to be a strong indicator of relational satisfaction and the ability to adjust.  However, Levinger and Senn (1967) found that this relationship works vice versa, as people satisfied in their relationships, have higher tendencies to disclose more than unsatisfied couples. 

Overall, self-disclosure clearly has a connection and impact with the satisfaction one may feel in a romantic relationship, as well as their ability to adjust for their significant other. Although one may precede the other, or vice versa, there is a positive relationship between these variables that can be further explored. 

Conflict Resolution

One could assume that if people are unsatisfied with their relationship, they would have more conflict. Given that self-disclosure has a role in the satisfaction of relationships, conflict is another factor to consider. Rather than looking at conflict as the source and cause of problems in relational satisfaction or stability, Vito (1998) proposed that the focus of conflict should be on how it is handled and resolved. The process of dealing with conflict would require some extent of disclosure in order to communicate one’s issues. 

Resolving conflict is defined as any behaviour or form of communication displayed during stages of a conflictual discussion (Vito, 1998). Previous studies have shown that “conflict tactics,” or the way one deals with conflict, relate to how much individuals choose to disclose and their relational satisfaction. Such findings indicate that people who disclose more information and use active conflict tactics are able to solve problems and grow closer together (Liang, 1997). These individuals share more information with one another, and part-take in behaviours, such as active listening and negotiation (Quek & Fitzpatrick, 2013). In contrast, individuals who disclose less information and use more passive conflict tactics, tend to be less satisfied in their relationships and at higher risks of divorce (Liang, 1997). These people withhold more information and demonstrate submissive behaviours such as avoiding conflict (Quek & Fitzpatrick, 2013). 

Other studies have also confirmed this idea, claiming that a lack of disclosure prevents people from resolving their conflict, given that there isn’t clear and honest verbal communication (Vito,1998). This increased the prevalence of negative emotions and dissatisfaction for a number of relationships, in one specific study (Vito,1998). Another study found that dissatisfied couples chose to avoid conflict inducing topics, whereas satisfied couples were considered “open communicators” and were able to resolve their conflicts easily (Afifi, McManus, Steuber, Coho, 2009). 

Overall, a number of studies show that in both ways, the amount one discloses impacts not only how one chooses to deal with conflict, but how happy one will be in that given relationship. In other instances, if one is happy in a relationship, it can be easier to disclose information and therefore conflict is avoided easily. Whereas if one is unhappy in a relationship, they might find it easier to withhold disclosure from their true feelings, with the intention to avoid a conflictual conversation. 

Relational satisfaction, self-disclosure, and conflict resolution tactics are three interplaying factors that all impact one another in various ways. Given that most previous research points towards a “pro” disclosure model, in order to avoid conflict and increase relational satisfaction, there is yet clarity to be gained on how disclosure might be inhibited in efforts to also avoid further conflict and relational dissatisfaction.

Decision-Making Process: Conceal vs. Reveal

In an effort to avoid conflict and possible termination of a romantic relationship, people go through the tension of deciding what to keep to themselves and what to express. Scholars suggest that it is normal to not be completely honest with partners, at every stage of a relationship (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Total honesty can be perceived as excessive criticism or simply hurtful (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). The Communication Privacy Management theory helps explain how people deal with this dialectical tension, of revelation and concealment (McLaren & Steuber, 2013). 

There are three main motives that summarise the typical reasons why people withhold disclosure. The first motive is fear about how the partner might respond to the truth (Afifi et al., 2009). The second motive is similar to fear, where the partner wants to protect the other from hurt or pain they’d feel if they learned the truth (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Finally, individuals withhold disclosure to avoid conflict or the possibility that their relationship would terminate if the truth came out (Guthrie & Kunel, 2013). 

Although withholding disclosure may have honourable motivations, when such information is revealed, the partner may feel deceived. Deception is a form of communication that is purposeful, often goal-directed, and functions as a way to control a certain aspect of a relationship (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013). Some common forms of deception are lies, exaggerations, half-truths, secrets, diversionary responses, emissions of truth, and, importantly for this research, avoidance/lack of disclosure (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013; Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). 

One study’s findings claimed that deception acts to either serve the interests of the deceiver or the deceived (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013). When the act of deception serves the interest of the deceiver, it is classified as “self-serving,” whereas when the act of deception serves the interest of the deceived, it is “others-benefiting” (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013).  My study will be looking more at forms of deception that are “others-benefiting,” in order to rationalize why one might choose to withhold disclosure, in efforts to avoid conflict. 

Deception is subjective and unique to specific relationships. One study came up with the theory that couples create a set of relational rules, tailored to them, to define which forms of deception are acceptable and which aren’t (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Findings reported that often individuals don’t have the intention to hurt their partner but are typically avoiding conflict, trying to control a level of intimacy, or having some other relational goal (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Participants were reluctant to tell lies for two main reasons (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Either, they perceived the truth as an obstacle in their goals or they perceived the cost of telling the truth as higher than the dysfunction the deception and lack of disclosure would bring (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013; Roggensack & Sillars, 2014).  

Although withholding oneself from disclosure can be perceived as deceptive behaviour, certain motives might justify a person’s decision-making process, when choosing what to reveal and what to keep concealed from a significant other. 

Current Study

In summary, although previous research focuses on how withholding disclosure causes conflict and relational dissatisfaction, it doesn’t fully address how enacting disclosure can cause conflict. My study proposes to investigate this gap in knowledge to explain how disclosure could be a source of conflict, and hence justifiably withheld, even if considered a form of deception.  In other words, the research question I propose to investigate through analysing and evaluating Wandavision, is in what ways can increases in self-disclosure cause conflict in established romantic relationships? 

Method

I conducted my analysis by watching the first and only season of Wandavision, which consists of nine episodes, ranging from 25 to 45 minutes long. I re-watched all the episodes a second time as well. While watching the season, both times, I took excessive notes on paper. Previous to the note-taking, I had created a code sheet with tables that list some of the specific behaviours I was focusing on in this study. This code sheet later contributed to shaping the themes I was able to form. 

I focused on the relationship between Wanda and Vision. The concepts discussed above (deception, disclosure, relational satisfaction, and conflict tactics) were key factors used to design the code sheet. I initially created four tables. One for moments of when disclosure was enacted or withheld and the implications of doing so. The second table focused on relational satisfaction, in specific observed moments of happiness or unhappiness, with columns to mark if conflict, deception/disclosure, and compromise/adjustment were present. The third table focused on moments of conflict and the types of strategies that were used. And the final table was about deception, its forms, motives, and implications. 

After taking notes on the first round and filling out the tables I had created, I wrote down a summary of the main patterns I was noticing. I found that certain instances/scenes between the two characters overlapped in multiple tables. For the second round of watching the show, I edited and revised the tables for overlaps and combined the deception and disclosure table, as I realised they were treated quite similarly. When I rewatched the show, I added onto my previous notes and replayed specific scenes that were most relevant to the concepts and patterns I was noticing. 

Most of my findings started to group together into two main categories: (1) how Wanda and Vision interacted with regards to their disclosure and (2) the conflict strategies enacted throughout the season.

In the case of WandaVision, conflict was dealt with productively at times but also unproductively at other times. Conflicts that were dealt with negatively and unproductively, often involved conflict-avoidance strategies such as creating distractions/obstacles, to deflect attention from the truth or a confrontation. Conflicts that were dealt with positively and productively, often involved teamwork and mutual goals of wanting to understand the other partner, including their motives and feelings. 

Within these two big themes, the factors of satisfaction, disclosure, conflict, and deception all play key roles in explaining why and how deception can be forgiven. This is especially relevant with Wanda and Vision, where they don’t jump to attack each other but try to understand each other's perspective in order to help resolve their conflicts. Additionally, they display a lot of withholding from truth and disclosure in order to keep their relationship afloat, however, such patterns of interaction also contributed to the stress and conflict they experienced in their relationship. 

Thematic Analysis 

Overview

WandaVision, as a show and even in the title, clearly revolves around the two characters as a couple. The couple starts off as very happy in their relationship, experiencing little to no real conflict in the first few episodes. As the season progresses, their relational dynamic changes. Conflict arises often because Wanda is not being 100% truthful with Vision, in regards to what is really going on in the city of Westview, and her role in the mystery of it. However, by the end of the series, after Vision discovers the deception and information being kept from him, he is able to forgive his partner. 

Throughout this journey, as their relationship progresses and faces challenges, one pattern that Wanda consistently displayed was conflict avoidance. In her efforts to keep Vision from finding out too much, she’d either (1) create obstacles or distractions to deflect his attention elsewhere or (2) use her supernatural ability to control time and not allow him to get to a confrontational point. Vision begins to pick up on her behavioural strategy and learns that he must search elsewhere to find the truth, as Wanda only continues to deny and avoid. 

Although this strategy to avoid conflict was frequently used by Wanda, one way of understanding how her deception was easily forgiven, at the end of the series, is to look at the instances when conflicts between them were resolved easily. The couple has a very healthy dynamic, such that when smaller issues arise they work together as a team. They don’t turn on each other or question each other's intentions, most of the time. Vision explicitly demonstrates, throughout his search for the truth, that he is understanding and wants to gain Wanda’s perspective in her motives to keep things from him. His first instinct was not to question or go against her. The support they show for one another helps them overcome some of their biggest relational challenges. 

By looking at this relationship, although many supernatural and non-realistic factors are present, Wanda and Vision embody many couples that are great in some areas, and flawed in others. More specifically, they are great at resolving conflict at times, and have a lot of love and support for one another, however, at other times they aren’t as skilled at facing other types of difficulties. Wanda and Vision often act like everything is perfect, creating a surface level sense of  relational satisfaction (state of happiness). This is because they frequently suppress their inner needs, which they’d normally disclose, in efforts to avoid upset feelings and/or conflict. 

One-sided Conflict Avoidance Breeds Mistrust

The first theme addresses the implications of conflict avoidance and whether or not it ultimately is harmful or beneficial for established romantic relationships.  

In a general sense, couples resort to various tactics and strategies when it comes to resolving conflict. The idea of dealing with conflict can be perceived as scary and a threat to the status and longevity of one’s relationship. In such cases, individuals often try to do everything in their ability to avoid any conflict from taking place (Liang, 1997). As previously stated conflict avoidance can take various forms such as (1) withholding disclosure, concealing or choosing not to express certain attitudes, beliefs, and feelings and/or (2) avoiding an actual confrontational conversation by creating distance from the other partner or distractions to deflect their attention (Quek & Fitzpatrick, 2013). 

Often people want to avoid conflict in their relationships because they fear their partner’s reaction or are protecting them from pain/hurt that might be caused by discovering the truth about something (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). In other cases, a partner might just not want to fight, in order to keep things peaceful and not put their relationship at risk (Guthrie & Kunel, 2013). Although passive strategies, like nodding one's head and smiling or saying “everything is alright'' and not expressing one’s true feelings, might make a relationship seem like everyone is happy and on the same page, the build-up of conflict avoidance can lead to more permanent and detrimental issues. Things like doubt, mistrust and future fights are possible consequences that can result from this conflict tactic. 

In the case of Wanda and Vision, they both enact avoidance strategies, however, Wanda does this more than Vision. Wanda has created a fake world, where she has almost cast a spell on the city of Westview and their citizens to play various roles she has created for them. This fantasy is almost edited and scripted by Wanda; in other words, she holds the power. As the season progresses, Vision begins to catch onto the weirdness of their situation, given that he is clueless about the real truth. 

Wanda’s motives in deceiving her partner and concealing the truth from him, aren’t made clear until the end of the series. However, her tactic in avoiding conflict is consistently demonstrated from the very first episode. When Vision’s boss and wife come over for dinner, they ask Wanda and Vision about their relationship history. Because they are living in a fantasy Wanda has created, the facts don’t chronologically line up. Wanda perceives this as a threat to her situation, and in an effort to avoid conflict with Vision, she creates a distraction. The boss is suddenly choking from the dinner and Vision’s attention on her, therefore, is deflected. 

Similarly in the second episode, an event takes place that Wanda did not expect. People from outside Westview are trying to rescue the captives and send someone in. When Wanda and Vision make contact with this man, she quickly edits the timeline and rewinds to moments before. She then creates a distraction by revealing that she is pregnant. Wanda is consistently manipulating time and their circumstances in order to avoid Vision from finding out the truth. 

She uses this strategy a number of times in future episodes. Whenever Vision asks her too many questions or catches onto the odd behaviours of the people of Westview she just rewinds the timeline and adds in another variable to distract him. In episode three, when Vision begins asking Wanda questions about why the people of Westview haven’t discovered their supernatural secret, she rewinds time to stop him from further investigating the situation and goes into labour. In episode five, when Agnes accidentally says “should I do a take 2?” and he questions this, she rewinds time and gets the kids to supernaturally age up. The kids age up again when Vision fights with Wanda about why she isn’t concealing her powers and is worried about the neighbourhood finding out, in the fourth episode. 

In the fifth episode, the kids ask Wanda at one point why their dad, Vision, is working on a Saturday. She admits to them that they “aren’t on the same page” and he needed a “distraction.” In that same episode, Vision discovers some of the truth behind Wanda’s actions at work. When he comes home that day, they have one of the most explosive arguments of the season. In response to Vision’s accusations, Wanda denies everything and tries to control the timeline, and skip to them going off to bed and sleeping, in order to avoid further discussion. 

Vision explicitly calls her out for her non-confrontational conflict behaviour, saying “So we can just watch TV? Turn in for the night so you can change everything over again?” He shouts at her and says “stop lying to me!” 

She in response tells him that “you don’t wanna know the truth, I promise.” By the end of their fight, her long lost dead brother rings the doorbell. Vision immediately perceives this as yet another distraction she’s created to avoid further conflict. Although she tells him that isn't the case, she can see he no longer believes her. 

This scene demonstrates that Wanda withholding the truth caused more conflict than she intended. She wants to “just watch TV” and play happy, however, she’s now lost Vision’s trust and made him upset. Vision is angered by Wanda’s consistent efforts to avoid the truth. What Vision perhaps does not realise is that by Wanda saying, he wouldn’t “wanna know the truth,” she might be protecting him from what could make him even more upset. Here, the tension in deciding what to reveal and what to conceal is predominantly led by how much the deceiver, Wanda, perceives the negative outcomes that could impact the deceived, Vision (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013). In more clear terms, a partner might get frustrated when a topic of conversation is consistently avoided, but if they learned the real truth, their frustration and emotions might be impacted on a much higher level.

This helps explain why Wanda does not change the way she deals with conflict, even after knowing how much it upsets Vision. After their big fight, in episode 6, she creates literal obstacles, like rainstorms and road traffic, to keep Vision from coming home and talking to her about all of this. She continues to withhold the full truth and avoids confrontation at all costs. This is because she perceives the outcomes of Vision finding out the full truth as more detrimental to their relationship, than the growing mistrust and negative emotions he feels as she continues to leave him in the dark.

Ultimately, conflict avoidance in the case of Wanda and Vision puts more tension on their relationship. This idea is supported by various studies in previous research, stating individuals who disclose less information and use more passive conflict tactics, tend to be less satisfied in their relationships (Liang, 1997). Individuals who tend to withhold more information demonstrate more submissive behaviours such as avoiding conflict, like Wanda (Quek & Fitzpatrick, 2013). And this lack of disclosure can prevent conflict from being fully resolved. 

Although the show portrays Wanda and Vision as “happy,” internally the lack of honesty catches up to them. It is also important to note that this conflict strategy was not mutually enacted by both parties, and perhaps the issue lies here. One partner prefers more active and confrontational communication, whereas the other prefers to distance and deflect from the topic of conversation. Further research would have to take place to compare couples where both of them use the same strategies, with other couples, like Wanda and Vision, where one uses avoidance and the other does not. 

Overall, avoiding disclosure leads to more conflict. This claim was proposed by certain previous studies that focused on how the lack of disclosure leads to unresolved conflict and relational satisfaction. The focus of the implications of enacting disclosure are further discussed in the next section of the paper. 

Additional findings in regards to this theme are when conflict avoidance isn’t mutually used by both people in the relationship, the result can be growing mistrust, doubt, and future discourse. Individuals must weigh the costs of withholding disclosure, with the consequences listed above, in comparison to the implications of telling the full truth. 

Productive Conflict Management Promotes Relational Growth 

This theme addresses the positive and negative implications of using disclosure in order to resolve conflict productively, in established romantic relationships.   

Although the previous section focused on conflict avoidance, there are more active ways of dealing with conflict. Some strategies that result in more productive conflict resolutions are (1) compromising one’s needs or adjusting yourself for your partner (2) some extent of honesty in communication, for the conflict to not just be resolved temporarily (3) solving problems as a team rather than perceiving the partner as an opposer to a solution (4) a desire to understand the other partner’s perspective (Vito, 1998). These strategies are related to how satisfied one is going to be in a given relationship, as actively communicating and compromising can make conflict resolution a lot easier (Liang, 1997). 

Wanda and Vision are very good at working together when faced with problems, rather than going against one another. In the first episode, Wanda misunderstands Vision about their dinner event and puts his promotion at risk with his boss. Instead of being upset with her, he helps her prepare dinner in time. On the other hand, in the second episode Vision nearly risks and reveals their supernatural abilities to the entire neighbourhood, during their magic show skit. Instead of being upset with Vision for his odd behaviour, Wanda works with him to cover up his mistakes. The most significant scene where the couple overcome their biggest challenge is in the final episode of the series. 

Vision meets Wanda for the first time since he has discovered all of the truth. Note that Vision does not learn any of the truth from Wanda, but has found out elsewhere. Even when discovering the truth, his reaction isn’t anger or hurt. He understands that Wanda has “endured” a lot of pain, which has led her to make the decisions she has. As previously mentioned, when they did have their biggest fight in episode 5, even then he reassures Wanda and tells her “I believe you did all this on a subconscious level at first and didn’t know exactly what you were doing.” Vision is explicitly trying to understand her perspective and motives, rather than attack and see her as the opposer. 

In the final episode, Vision tells Wanda he understands the reasons behind her actions. Wanda says she is sorry, but only after everything has been revealed by others to Vision. They then continue to fight the bad guys as a team and say their goodbyes to each other at the end of the episode. Although this method of dealing with conflict seems very healthy and positive, the fact that they have to part ways shows that the implications of complete truth and doing “the right thing” can be painful. The couple has to end the fantasy that Wanda has created for them and come back to the real world where Vision nor the kids they have actually exist. Wanda has to go back to being alone. 

In summary, given that Wanda and Vision had established levels of mutual love, understanding, and respect, demonstrated through their consistent compromise and support of one another, enacting disclosure helped resolve their conflicts easily. However, as previously stated, the implications of disclosure and sharing the truth can be severe and painful. This leads to the possible notion that conflict resolution, that benefits the couple, can be attained through disclosure, but other aspects of the relationship such as satisfaction and termination can be put at risk of harm. 

Conclusion

Through the analysis of Wanda and Vision’s relationship we are able to understand how the factors of disclosure, deception, conflict, and relational satisfaction work together. Most previous research treats these factors as separate variables that impact one another, focusing only on one or two of them at a time. After watching the show, I’ve realised these concepts are better used by looking at them at interplaying factors that work together to explain how conflict can be dealt with in relationships. Through this research, I was able to understand how avoiding disclosure can actually result in more conflict than intended, and the active strategies couples can use in order to resolve conflict more easily. 

In either cases when conflict is present and a consistent effort to withhold disclosure from at least one partner in the relationship, it is crucial to understand the motives of the deceiver in order for resolution and forgiveness to take place. In the example WandaVision, Vision was able to forgive Wanda for withholding the truth from him, because he understood her motives. Her motives align clearly with the three motives early reviewed, in explaining the forgiveness of deception.

To break this down, Wanda’s first motive is that she is afraid of how Vision might react. In other words, her motive stems from the fear she has of her partner’s reaction (Afifi et al., 2009). Secondly, Wanda was also afraid of the hurt she’d cause Vision, if he learned that he was nothing but her emotions and a supernatural creation she made. This aligns with the motive when one desires to protect the partner from pain or hurt that would be instigated by learning the truth (Roggensack & Sillars, 2014). Her final motive was her fear that if he learned the truth, he’d know it was wrong for them to continue to keep people against their will and live this fake life. He’d have to go back to not existing and allow things to return to their natural course. In other words, this motive is similar to a partner trying to avoid relational termination by withholding the truth (Guthrie & Kunel, 2013). 

Wanda and Vision were able to resolve their conflict mainly because the motives behind her deception were understood, and he had the desire to fully comprehend her perspective. By gaining knowledge of the deceiver's motives and understanding both perspectives, resolution and closure can be attained. In addition to this, this process was easy for Wanda and Vision because they had an established level of mutual love, respect, and understanding for one another. 

However, as previously stated, although the conflict was resolved, when the truth comes to light, relational satisfaction isn’t always achieved. Both of them are sad to have things end this way, as they love each other. Living in a false sense of reality, by avoiding the truth at all costs, allowed them to live ignorantly in a sense of bliss. But evidently, this ignorance couldn’t last forever, at least in Wanda and Vision’s case. 

In summary, my research shows that conflict avoidance can allow things to continue going at their pace and keep “peace” temporarily, but by consistently withholding disclosure, a build-up of mistrust can put the future of a relationship at risk. 

Individual relational satisfaction can begin to degrade with a lack of honesty, especially when one partner is aware that the other partner isn’t disclosing everything. And this brings to light that coping with avoidance might result differently, depending on if the strategy is mutually enacted by both partners. Wanda preferred more passive and avoidance strategies, whereas Vision would have prefered more active and confrontational strategies. 

On the other hand, my findings show that when conflict is treated head-on, with compromise and understanding, teamwork and some extent of honesty, the result most often is a resolved conflict. However, the consequences might be painful and mean the end of a relationship. 

Conflict avoidance strategies as well as conflict resolution strategies both have their perks and consequences, and it is up to a couple to decide which might cost the relationship more. 

The main limitation to my study was that the case of Wanda and Vision is not the most realistic example of a romantic couple, as the strategies used were to do with time shifting and supernatural forces. Additionally, the results of the study would be more clearly concluded if other couples were analysed, that have the same preferences in how they resolve conflict. In this way we could investigate if there are different implications for couples that both prefer avoidance strategies, such as withholding from disclosure.

Future research should also focus on the length of relationships, as this study was not able to study the long term impacts such as relational termination, when it comes to dealing with conflict in different ways. We can only infer from what the plot of WandaVision suggests the future might be for the couple. More research should focus on how the length of relationships could be impacted by the strategies chosen by couples, in dealing with conflict. Looking at how disclosure leads to conflict, the focus should be more-so shifted on the implications. What happens after the conflict takes place, or is resolved? As we see with Wanda and Vision, their “conflict resolution” leads to them having to part ways. Perhaps conflict avoidance, is another way of relationship termination avoidance? These are some of the areas that can be further explored. 

References 

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Quek, K. M.-T., & Fitzpatrick, J. (2013). Cultural Values, Self-Disclosure, and Conflict Tactics as Predictors of Marital Satisfaction Among Singaporean Husbands and Wives. The Family Journal, 21(2), 208–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480712466822

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