The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology)

With the field of personal relationships having grown dramatically in the past quarter century, this volume serves as a benchmark of the current state of scholarship, synthesizing the extant theoretical and empirical literature, tracing its historical roots, and making recommendations for future directions. The authors are international experts from a variety of disciplines including several subfields of psychology, communication, family studies and sociology who have made major contributions to the understanding of relationships. Cover......Page 1 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 10 Contributors......Page 18 Part I - INTRODUCTION......Page 24 Personal 1. Relationships: An Introduction......Page 26 Part II - FOUNDATIONS FOR STUDYING RELATIONSHIPS......Page 32 2. The Seven Seas of the Study of Personal Relationships: From “The Thousand Islands” to Interconnected Waterways......Page 34 3. Theoretical Perspectives in the Study of Close Relationships......Page 58 4. Research Methods for the Study of Personal Relationships......Page 74 5. Advances in Data Analytic Approaches for Relationships Research: The Broad Utility of Hierarchical Linear Modeling......Page 96 5. Relationship Typologies......Page 114 Part III - DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS......Page 134 7. From Courtship to Universal Properties: Research on Dating and Mate Selection, 1950 to 2003......Page 136 8. The Affective Structure of Marriage......Page 154 9. Divorce and Postdivorce Relationships......Page 180 Part IV - RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN......Page 198 10. Relationships in Early and Middle Childhood......Page 200 11. Personal Relationships in Adolescence and Early Adulthood......Page 214 12. Close Relationships in Middle and Late Adulthood......Page 234 Part V - INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES......Page 252 13. Personality and Relationships: ATemperament Perspective......Page 254 14. Attachment Theory, Individual Psychodynamics, and Relationship Functioning......Page 274 15. “His” and “Her” Relationships? A Review of the Empirical Evidence......Page 296 16. The Intimate Same-Sex Relationships of Sexual Minorities......Page 316 17. Family Relationships and Depression......Page 336 Part VI - BASIC PROCESSES......Page 352 18. Communication: Basic Properties and Their Relevance to Relationship Research......Page 354 19. Social Cognition in Intimate Relationships......Page 376 20. Emotion in Theories of Close Relationships......Page 392 21. Physiology and Interpersonal Relationships......Page 408 Part VII - INTERACTIVE PROCESSES......Page 430 22. Self-Disclosure in Personal Relationships......Page 432 23. Close Relationships and Social Support: Implications for the Measurement of Social Support......Page 452 24. Understanding Couple Conflic......Page 468 25. Sexuality in Close Relationships......Page 486 Part VIII - THREATS TO RELATIONSHIPS......Page 506 26. Loneliness and Social Isolation......Page 508 27. Stress in Couples: The Process of Dyadic Coping......Page 524 28. Lying and Deception in Close Relationships......Page 540 29. Temptation and Threat: Extradyadic Relations and Jealousy......Page 556 30. Violence and Abuse in Personal Relationships: Conflict Terror, and Resistance in Intimate Partnerships......Page 580 Part IX - RELATIONAL QUALITIES......Page 600 31. Relationship Satisfaction......Page 602 32. Romantic Love......Page 618 33. Commitment......Page 638 34. Intimacy in Personal Relationships......Page 660 Part X - CONTEXT......Page 678 35. Social Networks and Personal Communities......Page 680 36. Relationships in Home and Community Environments: A Transactional and Dialectic Analysis......Page 696 37. Relationships, Culture, and Social Change......Page 718 38. Personal Relationships: On and Off the Internet......Page 732 Part XI - MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF RELATIONSHIPS......Page 748 39. Maintaining Relationships......Page 750 40. The Treatment of Relationship Distress: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings......Page 768 Part XII - CONCLUSION......Page 790 Bringing It All Together: A Theoretical Approach......Page 792 Author Index......Page 814 Subject Index......Page 851 The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships serves as a benchmark of the current state of scholarship in this dynamic field synthesizing the extant theoretical and empirical literature, tracing its historical roots, and making recommendations for future directions. The volume addresses a broad range of established and emerging topics including: theoretical and methodological issues that influence the study of personal relationships; research and theory on relationship development, the nature and functions of personal relationships across the lifespan; individual differences and their influences on relationships; relationship processes such as cognition, emotion, and communication; relational qualities such as satisfaction and commitment; environmental influences on personal relationships; and maintenance and repair of relationships. The authors are experts from a variety of disciplines including several subfields of psychology, communication, family studies and sociology who have made major contributions to the understanding of relationships The contributors to this volume synthesise the extant theoretical and empirical literature in the field of personal relationships, tracing its historical roots and making recommendations for future directions

This book serves as a benchmark of the current state of scholarship regarding personal relationships.