Relationships are often complex, and most couples have highs and lows in their relationships. It happens to everyone – not everything is perfect all the time. But sometimes, people will stay in a relationship that’s clearly not working. The relationship goes from having highs and lows, to having all lows. This is about the time that people with healthy understandings of relationships decide to cut ties and let the relationship go- sometimes, even amicably, even if the ending of the relationship is saddening.

There are people with tendency to initiate and maintain relationships with partners who don’t meet our needs. Although “bad” relationships include abusive relationships, the research below can help to elucidate why we stay in low-quality relationships which are not marred by abuse as well. In a finding that might come as a surprise, a new study suggests that people may stay in unfulfilling relationships because they feel they’re doing their partner a favor. People trying to decide whether to end a relationship consider not only themselves but also how important the relationship is to their partner, according to the researchers.

The more dependent people believed their partner was on the relationship, the less likely they were to initiate a breakup. This was the first evidence that selflessness may play a role in decisions about disappointing romantic relationships, the study authors said. When people perceived that the partner was highly committed to the relationship, they were less likely to initiate a breakup.

This is true even for people who weren’t really committed to the relationship themselves or who were personally unsatisfied with the relationship. Generally they don’t want to hurt their partners and they care about what the other person wants.

In such cases, the unhappy partner may be hoping the relationship will improve. But if that doesn’t happen, then it just means a bad relationship is prolonged. One thing which is not known is how accurate people’s perceptions are. It could be the person is overestimating how committed the other partner is and how painful the breakup would be.