The analysis of the stress relaxation behavior of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) was made with the help of the two-components model, which allows a consistent description of the time and temperature dependent behavior. The effect of draw ratio, strain rate and temperature on the stress relaxation behavior of TPE was investigated. The structural background of the relaxation behavior was discussed using the two-network model shown in form of an analogy model. The assignation of the stress components to a hard phase and soft phase network is based on the experimental results taking into consideration the knowledge about the structural nature and deformation performance of TPE. Comparing dynamic vulcanizates with different TPE based on block copolymer, it was found that the characteristic differences in the time-dependent deformation behavior of the different TPE are based on the different deformation behavior of the network points. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.