Recipient of the 2014 International Association for Relationship Researchers Book Award! This multidisciplinary text highlights the development of romantic relationships, from initiation to commitment or demise, by highlighting the historical context, current research and theory, and diversity of patterns. Engagingly written with colorful examples, the authors examine the joy, stress, power-struggles, intimacy, and aggression that characterize these relationships. Readers gain a better understanding as to why, even after the pain and suffering associated with a breakup, most of us go right back out and start again. Relationships are examined through an interdisciplinary lens –psychological, sociological, environmental and communicative perspectives are all considered. End of chapter summaries, lists of key concepts, and additional readings serve as a review. As a whole the book explores what precipitates success or failure of these relationships and how this has changed over time. Highlights of the book’s coverage: Incorporates both cross-sex and same-sex romantic relationships Examines the roles of gender, race, class, culture, age, and sexuality in relationship development Looks at multiple types of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood, including dating and cohabitation Explores both positive and negative relational processes Analyzes the latest and most important scholarship. The book opens with an introduction followed by a historical overview of the development of relationships. Next relationship development models are examined including the influence of social factors and the interaction of the partners involved. This volume examines how partners initiate romantic relationships, including infatuation, sexual attraction, and the impact of technology; how cohabitation affects the quality of the future of the relationship; and the individual, social, and circumstantial factors that predict stability or break-ups in romantic relationships. The book ends with an examination of the “dark side” of relationships, and suggestions for future research on romantic pairings. Intended as a supplement for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in marriage and family, personal/close/intimate relationships, or interpersonal/family communication taught in human development and family studies, psychology, social work, sociology, communication, counseling and therapy, this book also appeals to researchers and practitioners interested in the romantic relationship processes.

The development of romantic relationships, from initiation to commitment or demise, are highlighted in this text that explores the historical context, current research and theory, and diversity of patterns.

Recipient of the 2014 International Association for Relationship Researchers Book Award! This multidisciplinary text highlights the development of romantic relationships, from initiation to commitment or demise, by highlighting the historical context, current research and theory, and diversity of patterns. Engagingly written with colorful examples, the authors examine the joy, stress, power-struggles, intimacy, and aggression that characterize these relationships. Readers gain a better understanding as to why, even after the pain and suffering associated with a breakup, most of us go right back out and start again. Relationships are examined through an interdisciplinary lens –psychological, sociological, environmental and communicative perspectives are all considered. End of chapter summaries, lists of key concepts, and additional readings serve as a review. As a whole the book explores what precipitates success or failure of these relationships and how this has changed over time. Highlights of the book’s coverage: Incorporates both cross-sex and same-sex romantic relationships Examines the roles of gender, race, class, culture, age, and sexuality in relationship development Looks at multiple types of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood, including dating and cohabitation Explores both positive and negative relational processes Analyzes the latest and most important scholarship. The book opens with an introduction followed by a historical overview of the development of relationships. Next relationship development models are examined including the influence of social factors and the interaction of the partners involved. This volume examines how partners initiate romantic relationships, including infatuation, sexual attraction, and the impact of technology; how cohabitation affects the quality of the future of the relationship; and the individual, social, and circumstantial factors that predict stability or break-ups in romantic relationships. The book ends with an examination of the “dark side” of relationships, and suggestions for future research on romantic pairings. Intended as a supplement for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in marriage and family, personal/close/intimate relationships, or interpersonal/family communication taught in human development and family studies, psychology, social work, sociology, communication, counseling and therapy, this book also appeals to researchers and practitioners interested in the romantic relationship processes.

In this classic edition top scholars in family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents’ contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, from the evolutionary roots of these behaviors to policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise from scholars of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy. Adolescents and young adults today face very different choices about family formation than did their parents’ generation, given such societal changes as the rise in cohabitation, the increase in divorce rates, and families having fewer children. This book examines these demographic trends and provides a backdrop against which adolescents and emerging adults form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships. This book addresses such questions as: *What are the ways in which early family and peer relationships give rise to romantic relationships in the late adolescent and early adult years? *How do early romantic and sexual relationships influence individuals’ subsequent development and life choices, including family formation? *To what extent are current trends in romantic and sexual relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood problematic for individuals, families, and communities, and what are the most effective ways to address these issues at the level of practice, program, and policy? Ideal as a supplement in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on interpersonal (romantic) relationships, adolescent development, human sexuality, couples and/or family and conflict, sociology of children and youth, family therapy taught in human development and family studies, clinical or counseling psychology, social work, sociology, communications, and human sexuality this book also appreciated by researchers and clinicians/counselors who work with families and adolescents.

Originally published in 2000, this was the first volume to examine adolescent romantic relationships.

Understanding interpersonal relationships requires understanding actors, behaviors, and contexts. This 2002 volume presents research from a variety of disciplines that examine personal relationships on all three levels. The first section focuses on the factors that influence individuals to enter, maintain, and dissolve relationships. The second section emphasizes ongoing processes that characterize relationships and focuses on issues such as arguing and sacrificing. The third and final section demonstrates that the process of stability and change are embedded in social, cultural, and historical contexts. Chapters address cultural universals as well as cross-cultural differences in relationship behaviors and outcomes. The emergence of relational forms, such as the interaction between people and computers, is also explored. Stability and Change in Relationships will be of interest to a broad range of fields, including psychology, sociology, communications, gerontology, and counselling.

Educators will find much useful information in this book. It offers insights for program and curriculum planning and suggests numerous topics for stimulating discussions with teens. It also raises provocative issues about how the developmental needs of youth can be served more effectively by families, communities, and educators. The book holds the potential to define personal relations as an integrated line of study that serves to develop theory and research beyond contextual boundaries. The contributors analyze the ways in which critical interpersonal bonds are forged and maintained. The relationships discussed are: The parent-teen connection; the impact of cultural diversity on teens' social development; same-sex friends as well as opposite-sex friends during adolescence; heterosexual, bisexual, gay and lesbian romantic relationships; adolescent crowds (or cliques); and relationships involving non-kin adults. The authors also explore conceptual issues that cut across relationships and the problem of integrating the views of both individuals in a relationship.

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 relationships in emerging adults were not particularly important or formative. The material presented allows this assumption to be thoroughly evaluated. This volume is intended to be a resource for anyone interested in understanding romantic relationships in emerging adulthood. It is especially appropriate for classroom use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in the fields of family sociology, human development and family studies, clinical and developmental psychology, and social work.

Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions. What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Social Exchange in Developing Relationships is a collection of papers that deals with the systematic study of the development of relationships. The papers discuss several theoretical perspectives, such as evolutionary theory, personality theory, cognitive developmental theory, equity theory, role theory, and attribution theory. One paper discusses romantic relationships—the evolution of first acquaintance to close or intimate commitment. Another paper presents the hypothesis that the factors causing a relationship to begin will also probably steer intermediate cognitive processes, eventually influencing the nature of the relationship. Commitment requires specific concepts such as input levels contributed to the relationship, duration of these inputs, and their consistency of occurrence. The equity theory suggests that equity principles determine the selection of one's mate and how they (the partners) will get along in the future. One paper analyzes the dynamic theories of social relationships and the resulting research strategies: that the conceptualization of a parameter of a social relationship can affect the choice of data collection techniques and other matters. Sociologists, psychologists, historians, students, and academicians doing sociological research, can benefit greatly from this collection.