Obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) occurs when someone knowingly and repeatedly invades another person's privacy boundaries by using intrusive tactics to try to get closer to that person. It includes behaviors such as repeated calls and texts, malicious contact, spreading rumors, stalking, and violence (kidnapping and assault). Drs. Brian Spitzberg and William Cupach, the creators of the term, define ORI as "repeated and unwanted pursuit and invasion of one's sense of physical or symbolic privacy by another person, either stranger or acquaintance, who desires and/or presumes an intimate relationship". Some victims of ORI have no preexisting relationship with or interest in their pursuers; others know their pursuers, but are less interested in making an existing relationship more intimate. Components There are several key components of ORI that distinguish it from other similar relational patterns. First, ORI involves a lack of mutual agreement regarding the nature or even the existence of a relationship. While the person obsessed with the relationship is attempting to make a closer connection, the object of ORI desires freedom from continued forced contact. Spitzberg writes that "this dialectical tension is endemic to the formation and ongoing construction of all interpersonal relationships". Second, ORI is not associated with a singular event, but is repeated. Spitzberg and Cupach write, "Obsessiveness is reflected in the fact that the intruder is fixated on the target of attention; the intruder's thoughts and behaviors are persistent, preoccupying, and often morbid. Pursuit is persistent despite the absence of reciprocity by the obsessional object and despite resistance by the object." The episodes of unwanted behavior tend to escalate over time, with the seriousness rising and the time between incidents shortening. Third, the intrusion can be symbolic and psychological, not just physical. The invasion of privacy as well as the imposition on the victim's feelings of freedom of choice are important aspects of ORI. Behaviors Studies have been done to explore certain factors that predispose individuals to ORI. Some have found narcissism and low empathy as predictors for ORI, and hypothesized that people with high empathy would be more inclined to judge ORI behaviors as unacceptable. But this pattern has been found inconclusive; one study found that empathy may not inhibit ORI, although there is a substantial positive relationship between narcissism and the acceptability of ORI. Many victims of ORI have also experienced sexual coercion, and the coping responses used for both tend to be similar. Additionally,