Close Relationships Key Readings

Relationships are among the most important human endeavors and play a central role in human behavior, emotion, and well-being. Too long neglected by the research community, the past few decades have seen rapid increases in the amount and sophistication of research designed to understand the processes that govern the initiation, development, maintenance, and deterioration of relationships. This collection includes both classic and contemporary approaches to some of the most important and influential issues in the study of relationships.
The articles in this reader were selected and edited for readability, interest, and centrality to the empirical study of relationship processes. The reader provides a timely and thorough introduction to the theories, questions, methods, and findings of social-psychological research on relationship processes. Suitable for both graduate and undergraduate students, it might be used as a supplement in social psychology courses or as source material in courses and seminars concerned with relationships.

Each of the chapters in this reader is written by leading scholars in the area of relationships, reflecting the diversity of the field and including both contemporary and key historical papers for comprehensive coverage of research.

Part 1: Relationships in Our Lives. E. Berscheid, The Greening of Relationship Science. N.L. Collins, C. Dunkel-Schetter, M. Lobel, S.C.M. Scrimshaw, Social Support in Pregnancy: Psychosocial Correlates of Birth Outcomes and Postpartum Depression. H.T. Reis, Yi-Cheng Lin, M.E. Bennett, J.B. Nezlek, Change and Consistency in Social Participation during Early Adulthood. Part 2: First Impressions and Interpersonal Attraction. D. Byrne, C.R. Ervin, J. Lamberth, Continuity between the Experimental Study of Attraction and Real-life Computer Dating. R.L. Moreland, S.R. Beach, Exposure Effects in the Classroom: The Development of Affinity among Students. M. Snyder, E.D. Tanke, E. Berscheid, Social Perception and Interpersonal Behavior: On the Self-fulfilling Nature of Social Stereotypes. Part 3: Evolution, Experience and Later Relationships. D.T. Kenrick, M.R. Trost, Evolutionary Approaches to Relationships. D.M. Buss, Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences: Evolutionary Hypotheses Tested in Thirty-seven Cultures. C. Hazan, P.R. Shaver, Attachment as an Organizational Framework for Research on Close Relationships. M. Mikulincer, Attachment Working Models and the Sense of Trust: An Exploration of Interaction Goals and Affect Regulation. Part 4: Developing Relationships. J.P. Laurenceau, L.F. Barrett, P.R. Pietromonaco, Intimacy as an Interpersonal Process: The Importance of Self-disclosure, Partner Disclosure, and Perceived Partner Responsiveness in Interpersonal Exchanges. R.J. Sternberg, A Triangular Theory of Love. R. Levine, S. Sato, T. Hashimoto, J. Verma, Love and Marriage in Eleven Cultures. Part 5: Interdependence in Ongoing Relationships. M.S. Clark, J. Mills, Interpersonal Attraction in Exchange and Communal Relationships. B.R. Schlenker, T.W. Britt, Beneficial Impression Management: Strategically Controlling Information to Help Friends. D.M. Wegner, R. Erber, P. Raymond, Transactive Memory in Close Relationships. Part 6: Maintaining Relationships. C.E. Rusbult, N. Olsen, J.L. Davis, P.A. Hannon, Close Romantic Relationships: Maintenance and Enhancement. J.A. Simpson, S.W. Gangestad, M. Lerma, Perception of Physical Attractiveness: Mechanisms Involved in the Maintenance of Romantic Relationships. S.L. Murray, J.G. Holmes, D.W. Griffin, The Benefits of Positive Illusions: Idealization and the Construction of Satisfaction in Close Relationships. Part 7: Cognition and Emotion in Ongoing Relationships. W. Ickes, J.A. Simpson, Managing Empathic Accuracy in Close Relationships. A. Aron, E.N. Aron, M. Tudor, G. Nelson, Close Relationships as Including Other in the Self. S.M. Andersen, I. Reznik, L.M. Manzella, Eliciting Facial Affect, Motivation, and Expectancies in Transference: Significant-other Representations in Social Relations. S. Gabriel, W.L. Gardner, Are There 'His' and 'Hers' Types of Interdependence? The Implications of Gender Differences in Collective versus Relational Interdependence for Affect, Behavior, and Cognition. Part 8: Deteriorating Relationships. F.D. Fincham, Attribution Processes in Distressed and Nondistressed Couples: Responsibility for Marital Problems. G. Downey, A.L. Freitas, B. Michaelis, H. Khouri, The Self-fulfilling Prophecy in Close Relationships: Rejection Sensitivity and Rejection by Romantic Partners. L.L. Cartensen, J.M. Gottman, R.W. Levenson, Emotional Behavior in Long-term Marriage. M.P. Johnson, Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence: Two Forms of Violence against Women.

Harry T. Reis is a professor of psychology at University of Rochester. His research interests include influences on social interaction, patterns of socializing for health and psychological well-being, and psychological processes that affect the course and conduct of close relationships, intimacy, attachment and emotion regulation. He is the President of the International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships.Caryl Rusbult is a distinguished professor of psychology at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she is also the Director of the Social Psychology Program. Her research interests include motivation and behavior in close relationships and commitment processes. Awards include the New Contribution Award from ISSPR and the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations.