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A new study identifies 45 distinct ways to end a relationship that fall into nine categories.

Most individuals prefer to end relationships by softening the emotional impact.

Personality traits like psychopathy shape how people choose to break up.

New research reveals 45 breakup strategies and ranks the most- and least-preferred ways people end romantic relationships. Here, I explain what they are and why they matter.

The paper, authored by Apostolou and Kagialis, was published recently in Personality and Individual Differences.

Study 1: Identifying Breakup Behaviors

Sample: 228 Greek-speaking individuals (122 women), with an average age of 30 for women and 31 for men. Around 55 percent were currently in a romantic relationship.

Methods: Participants responded to the prompt: “For various reasons, you are not happy with your romantic relationship. Write down a few actions you would take to end this relationship.”

Results: Researchers identified 45 distinct breakup acts.

Study 2: Rating the Breakup Acts

Sample: 392 Greek-speaking participants (185 women). Women averaged 34 years old; men averaged 38. About 41 percent were single.

Methods: Participants evaluated the 45 breakup acts by rating how likely they would be to use each one in an unsatisfactory relationship.

Results: Researchers grouped the breakup behaviors into nine core “breakup strategies” (i.e., common ways people break up) and further classified them into three overarching types.

Based on the results, the following nine breakup strategies represent the most common ways people end relationships. (Note: Representative participant responses are shown with minor edits for clarity and........

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