Lighter touch leads to easier relationships (5)
I believe the answer is:
taper
'lighter' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'touch leads to easier relationships' is the wordplay.
'touch' becomes 'tap' (tap is a kind of touch**).
'leads to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'easier relationships' is 'er'.
'tap'+'er'='TAPER'
(Other definitions for taper that I've seen before include "Become narrow" , "Narrow gradually as candle may" , "Get thinner towards the end" , "Grow narrower" , "Get more slender" .)