From the moment of birth to the moment of death, peoples' lives are intermingled and survival is determined by personal relationships. Those with strong ties live longer and in better health than people who are lonely or isolated. Yet scholarship has rarely considered personal relationships across the entire life span. This edited volume integrates research on people's relationships from childhood to later adulthood. Chapters look at specific types of relationships as well as at the functions that underlie them such as the way people think about relationships and their emotional reactions as...

We often turn to our friends, family, spouses, and partners for help in coping with daily stress or major crises. Daena Goldsmith provides a communication-based approach for understanding why some conversations about problems are more helpful than others. In contrast to other research on the social support processes, Goldsmith focuses on interpersonal communication--what people say and how they say it, as well as their reactions to the conversations. Her studies cover adults of all ages and various kinds of stresses, ranging from everyday hassles to serious illnesses and other major crises.

This volume presents cutting edge research and theory on stability and change in personal relationships. The first section includes chapters that describe the "scaffolding " of stability and change. It focuses on various qualities that partners bring to their relationships. The second section emphasizes ongoing processes that characterize relationships. Chapters focus on issues such as arguing and sacrificing. The final section of the volume describes the influences of social environments on stability and change in relationships. Historical and cross-cultural contexts are examined, as are...

People often try to figure out why they acted the way they did or why others close to them acted in a certain way. The thoughts we have about why things happened are known as attributions. People have these thoughts about communication behavior, and they communicate the thoughts that they have. This book brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines whose work focuses on the interplay of attribution processes and communication behavior in close relationships.

In a fast-changing world, what impact does social change have on our everyday relationships? How do modernisation processes influence our broader values, and how might these then affect our desires to marry, have a family and develop our social networks? And how do sudden events in a society invasions, civil conflict, terrorist attacks, collapse of a political system influence our relationship decisions and processes? In this book Goodwin critically reviews the literature on modernisation and contemporary relationships, challenging simplistic conclusions about the end of intimacy and the...

Explores how and why people express affection, the many positive effects it can have, and the risks it often carries.

We often turn to our friends, family, spouses, and partners for help in coping with daily stress or major crises. Daena Goldsmith provides a communication-based approach for understanding why some conversations about problems are more helpful than others. In contrast to other research on the social support processes, Goldsmith focuses on interpersonal communication--what people say and how they say it, as well as their reactions to the conversations. Her studies cover adults of all ages and various kinds of stresses, ranging from everyday hassles to serious illnesses and other major crises.

This book draws together a wide range of new developments in the study of marital interaction, or how couples communicate with one another in positive and negative situations. Many of the chapters contain new information and insights into how couples can best be helped to deal with issues. This study is of importance to those who study couple interaction, or work with couples to help resolve differences and improve communication.

This edited volume integrates research on people's relationships from childhood to later adulthood.

Emerging adulthood the period between the late teens and mid-twenties is a unique and important developmental period during which people gain relationship experience before settling on someone to partner with. Romantic Relationships in Emerging Adulthood presents a synthesis of cutting-edge research and theory on this topic. Leading scholars from demography, sociology, family studies, and psychology provide original data and theoretical analyses that address the formation, nature, and significance of romantic relationships in emerging adults. Until recently, it was assumed that romantic...