What is relationship patterns?

Relationship patterns is a concept in personal epistemology: Recurring dynamics in relationships reveal your relational templates.

Example: You notice that every new manager eventually frustrates you in the same way — they seem supportive at first, then withdraw when you need direction. You've had four managers in five years and told yourself each one was uniquely disappointing. But the pattern isn't about them. It's about an expectation template you carry into every authority relationship: seek approval, interpret distance as rejection, withdraw before you can be let down. Once you see the template, you can decide whether to keep running it.

This concept is part of Phase 6 (Pattern Recognition) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for pattern recognition.