The importance in social relationships of the exchange of information by non-verbal gestures and expressions, though long appreciated by artists and writers, has only recently become the subject of serious scientific study. The subject has been approached from different angles by psychologists studying the relevance of non-verbal communication to interpersonal relationships, by anthropologists interested in how these processes help to integrate societies, and by ethologists extrapolating the results of animal studies to human behaviour.

The scope of the volume ranges from formal analysis of...

This volume on close relationships in adulthood discusses the central issues in the field and points the way towards the construction of an integrated body of knowledge about human relationships. The self, interactions, relationships and grops are treated as dynaimc proceses in dialectical relations with each other and with the socio-cultural structure of norms, values, beliefs and institutions.