'The authors ...extend the reach of their comprehensive reviews into theoretically driven and innovating explorations. The scope of coverage across and within chapters is striking. The developmentalist, the methodologist, the feminist, the contextualist, and the cross-culturalist alike will find satisfaction in reading the chapters' - Catherine A Surra, University of Texas, Austin The science of close relationships is relatively new and complex. This volume has 26 chapters organized into four thematic areas: relationship methods, forms, processes, and threats, as well as a foreword and an...

A topic relevant to everyone - friendship - is explored in this volume, the first in the "SAGE Series on Close Relationships." It presents a thoughtful statement about what we know, and have yet to learn, concerning adults' friendships.

The authors discuss state-of-the-art research on the interplay between social structure, individual disposition and dynamic processes of friendship, and findings on both similarities and differences across adult lifecourse stages. They provide a theoretical framework, incorporating both sociological and psychological perspectives. Using this framework, they...

Gaining face, maintaining face and losing face all have numerous implications in the management of close relationships. This thorough review of research focuses on self-presentational aspects of communication in intimate relationships - facework'.

The authors make a compelling case for facework as fundamental to any stage of a relationship, and in a clear and humorous manner offer insight into how to deal with problematic situations occurring in close relationships.