What makes for strong and enduring relationships? It is a question of increasing scientific and popular interest as it has become clear that relationships can make life happier, healthier, and longer. In this collection, the reader will find an overview of state-of-the-art research on this question and a glimpse of the new directions that will define the future of this field of study. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, the book offers cutting-edge perspectives on the factors and processes that contribute to strong, thriving, and resilient close relationships. Split into three parts, the first part discusses important factors and processes contributing to strong relational bonds in the form of different types of relationships. The second part spotlights contexts such as culture and gender as the domain for future advances in this area of research. Finally, the last part covers data analytic techniques and future directions. Offering a unique perspective on each topic covered, the authors highlight the promising next steps which will inspire advances in the field in the years to come. Bringing together important trends from different areas of research, this text will make a significant contribution to social psychology and is essential for students and academics interested in the psychology of relationships.

"Evolutionary social science is having a renaissance. This volume showcases the empirical and theoretical advancements produced by the evolutionary study of romantic relationships. The editors assembled an international collection of contributors to trace how evolved psychological mechanisms shape strategic computation and behavior across the lifespan of a romantic partnership. Each chapter provides an overview of historic and contemporary research on the psychological mechanisms and processes underlying initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships. Contributors discuss popular and cutting-edge methods for data analysis and theory development, critically analyse the state of evolutionary relationship science, and provide discerning recommendations for future research. The handbook integrates a broad range of topics (e.g., partner preference and selection, competition and conflict, jealousy and mate guarding, parenting, partner loss and divorce, and post-relationship affiliation) that are discussed alongside major sources of strategic variation in mating behavior, such as sex and gender diversity, developmental life history, neuroendocrine processes, technological advancement, and culture. Its content promises to enrich students' and established researchers' views on the current state of the discipline and should challenge a diverse cross-section of relationship scholars and clinicians to incorporate evolutionary theorizing into their professional work"--

This book is the definitive text in the field of positive psychology, the scientific study of what makes people happy. The handbook's international slate of renowned authors summarizes and synthesizes lifetimes of research, together illustrating what has worked for people across time and cultures. Now in paperback, this second edition provides both the current literature in the field and an outlook on its future.

Relationship science is dominated by studies that emphasize situational or outside-person influences on close relationship processes. In contrast, Gaines, Jr emphasizes personality or within-person influences on relationship dynamics. This book integrates personality theories and research on attitudes, traits, values, motives, emotions, and moods as influences on close relationship processes.

The past decade has witnessed an explosion of interest and research on close relationships and social cognition. In both areas, numerous handbooks, textbooks, and journal articles have been published. However, it is the editors' impression that although cognitive theories and concepts have filtered through to research dealing with close relationships, much of this research reflects a relatively untutored understanding of the theoretical and empirical work in social cognition. Conversely, the research literature that provides a more sophisticated perspective on the role of cognition in close relationships typically reveals a relatively limited knowledge of the literature on close relationships. As researchers who have worked in both social cognitive processes and close relationships, Fletcher and Fincham are convinced that each field has much to offer the other. In fact, their book is based on two important postulates: first, that a social cognitive framework offers a valuable resource for developing our understanding of close relationships; and, second, that studying cognition within close relationships has the potential to inform our understanding of basic social cognitive processes.

This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive summary of the psychology of close relationships, and showcases classic and contemporary theories, models, and empirical research that have been conducted in the field.

The editor’s bring together major scholars from the diversity of fields working on close relationship topics to examine past contributions and new directions in sexuality. The emphasis is on theoretical integration and stimulation, methodological r

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.

Providing an invaluable resource for scholars and researchers, this book investigates positive psychology and relationships theory and research across a range of settings and life stages—intimate, work, educational, senior/retirement, and in the context of diversity. Nearly universally, relationships are a key source of what we all seek in life: happiness, fulfillment, and well-being. The experts who contributed to this novel volume apply the framework of positive psychology to the findings of relationships research across a variety of practical contexts. What actions create and sustain respectful, caring, joyous, stimulating, and loving relationships? How do people rich in friendship, intimacy, and interpersonal skills think and behave? How do they unconsciously cultivate positive relationships? This book brings together authoritative reviews, cutting-edge research, and thoughtful scholarship that serve to answer these questions and document the benefit of positive relationships in a variety of settings and across the human life span. Following a comprehensive introduction, the book addresses positive intimate relationships, positive relationships at work, positive relationships during different stages of life (in youth, in adolescence, and among older adults), and positive relationships intersecting with diversity. The chapters underscore the simple concept that relationships are central to what makes life worth living and are fundamental to well-being across all life domains as they play out at home, in school, at work, in retirement homes, and in the community at large.

Written in a personal, story-telling style, Odyssey weaves excerpts of actual relationships with current and classic research to provide a better perspective on our own experiences in light of the principles of relationships. Highlights of its comprehensive coverage include the classic research on personal attraction, dating and meeting others for closeness, and the maintenance and dissolution of relationships. "Recommendations for Growth" provides an opportunity for readers to directly apply current research and theory to their own relationships. Features new to this edition include the latest research and therapeutic techniques on maintaining and enhancing relationships; a new chapter on the family with recent demographic changes and a look at the ongoing debates about the impact of cohabitation, divorce, and blended families; and new chapters on same sex relationships and the dark side of relationships, including why women stay in abusive relationships. Odyssey of the Heart serves as a text for courses on close and/or interpersonal relationships. Its accessibility and inclusion of many actual experiences will engage the general reader.