What Is Respect in a Relationship?

Most people want to enjoy health and relationships. A relationship can affect health for good or bad. Respect is vital to relationship health.

Respect means things such as good boundaries and communication. Respect also means to treat a person as an equal. But what does respect mean in daily life?

To show respect in a relationship can mean to:

  • Be fair with time and money.
  • Honor consent when it comes to affection and intimacy.
  • Show the person that you care and that he or she is important to you.
  • Tell someone if he or she makes you happy and show appreciation.
  • Stay active in making important decisions.
  • Consider options and listen to what someone is saying.
  • Do not threaten or shut someone down.

To behave with respect can also mean to:

  • Support the other person in meeting his or her needs.
  • Participate in things in which the other person has interest.
  • Invite, instead of demand, things or responses.
  • Be honest and safe, and expect the same from the other person.
  • Never hurt someone on purpose.
  • Value the other person’s privacy by not trying to find out passwords in order to check on phone calls and social media messages.
  • Be trustworthy and do not spy on a person to see who he or she is with or what he or she is doing.

If it is hard to respect a person or you do not feel that you get respect, it may be time for a healthy breakup. This must be based on respect and may include points in bold from the above lists.

To find the domestic abuse program nearest you, visit http://www.pcadv.org/ and click on Find Help or use the Find Help map on the home page.

To reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) (TTY 1-800-787-3224).

A teen may call the National Dating Abuse Helpline to talk to a teen or adult: 1-866-331-9474 (TTY 1-866-331-8453) or visit the websites: http://www.loveisrespect.org/
http://www.thatsnotcool.com/