According to Fullerton (2005), Gustafsson et al. (2005), Hess and Story (2005, 2006) Van Goolen and Franc¸ois (2007) and Sanchez-Franco et al. (2009) among others, relationship satisfaction is antecedent to relationship trust, but primarily contributes to functional connections. On the other hand, personal connections stem from relationship trust. The relative strengths of personal and functional connections determine the cognitive and
affective nature of relationship commitment outcomes. In other words, the revised commitment-trust model incorporates personal and functional connections, dividing relationship commitment into cognitive and affective aspects. Cognitive commitment results from calculating the functional benefits, while affective commitment lies in appraisal of affective benefits. The construct of satisfaction antecedes the cognitive aspect of relationship commitment, while the construct of trust antecedes the affective aspect of relationship commitment. In other words, perceived connections and benefits
in the functional and affective dimensions are highlighted as most significant factors that exercise influence on the augmentation of relationship commitment and relationship trust.