Relationship Maintenance
Theory, Process, and Context

Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on behaviors and strategies used to maintain intimate relationships.

Brian G. Ogolsky (Edited by), J. Kale Monk (Edited by)

9781108412278, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 November 2021

413 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.1 cm, 0.588 kg

'This interdisciplinary volume edited by Ogolsky (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and Monk (Univ. or Missouri) provides an important, up-to-date account of the theoretical and research traditions that explain the processes and context used to preserve romantic relationships … Focusing on recent research and written by acknowledged experts in the field, this ably constructed, well-organized review and critique is a must for any academic library serving scholars and clinicians working in this area of social psychology.' K. M. McKinley, Choice

Relationship maintenance encompasses a wide range of activities that partners use to preserve their relationships. Despite the importance of these efforts, considerably more empirical focus has been devoted to starting (i.e. initiation) and ending (i.e. dissolution) relationships than on maintaining them. In this volume, internationally renowned scholars from a variety of disciplines describe diverse sets of relationship maintenance efforts in order to show why some relationships endure, whereas others falter. By focusing on 'what to do' rather than 'what not to do' in relationships, this book paints a more comprehensive picture of the forms, functions, and contexts of relationship maintenance. It is essential reading for scholars and students in psychology, communication, human development and family science, sociology, and couple/marriage and family therapy.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Maintaining the literature on relationship maintenance Brian G. Ogolsky and J. Kale Monk
Part II. Theories of Relationship Maintenance: 2. Interdependence perspectives on relationship maintenance Laura E. VanderDrift and Christopher Agnew
3. An evolutionary, life history theory perspective on relationship maintenance Ethan S. Young and Jeffry A. Simpson
4. Relationship maintenance from an attachment perspective Juwon Lee, Gery C. Karantzas, Omri Gillath and R. Chris Fraley
5. Uncertainty perspectives on relationship maintenance Jennifer A. Theiss
6. The self-expansion model and relationship maintenance Xiaomeng Xu, Gary Lewandowski, Jr and Arthur Aron
Part III. Processes of Relationship Maintenance: 7. Communication and relationship maintenance Laura Stafford
8. Attributions, forgiveness, and gratitude as relationship maintenance processes James K. McNulty and Alexander Dugas
9. Social networks and relationship maintenance Susan Sprecher, Diane Felmlee, Jeffrey E. Stokes and Brandon McDaniel
10. Dyadic coping as relationship maintenance Ashley K. Randall and Shelby Messerschmitt-Coen
11. Conflict management and problem solving as relationship maintenance Karena Leo, Feea R. Leifker, Donald H. Baucom and Brian R. W. Baucom
12. Sex as relationship maintenance Emily A. Impett, Amy Muise and Natalie O. Rosen
13. Accuracy and bias in relationship maintenance Edward P. Lemay, Jr and Nadya Teneva
Part IV. The Social Context of Relationship Maintenance: 14. Gender and race perspectives on relationship maintenance Katherine Fiori and Amy Rauer
15. Relationship maintenance across cultural groups Stanley O. Gaines, Jr and Nelli Ferenczi
16. Relationship maintenance in the age of technology John P. Caughlin and Ningxin Wang
17. Relationship maintenance across the life course Amy Rauer and Christine Proulx
18. Relationship maintenance in couple therapy and relationship education Amber Vennum, Jeremy Kanter and Joyce Baptist
Part V. Conclusion: 19. Relationship maintenance reprise and reflections: past, present and future Daniel Perlman
Index.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Health psychology [MBNH9], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]