The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships serves as a benchmark of the current state of scholarship in this dynamic field synthesizing the extant theoretical and empirical literature, tracing its historical roots, and making recommendations for future directions. The volume addresses a broad range of established and emerging topics including: theoretical and methodological issues that influence the study of personal relationships; research and theory on relationship development, the nature and functions of personal relationships across the lifespan; individual differences and their influences on relationships; relationship processes such as cognition, emotion, and communication; relational qualities such as satisfaction and commitment; environmental influences on personal relationships; and maintenance and repair of relationships. The authors are experts from a variety of disciplines including several subfields of psychology, communication, family studies and sociology who have made major contributions to the understanding of relationships.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book examines how intimate relationships are built, negotiated and maintained through social media. The study takes a cross-platform approach, analysing three social media platforms of different genres – Badoo, Couchsurfing and Facebook – and exploring two interactive forces that shape the way people communicate through social media: the platforms’ architecture and policies, and actual practises of use. Combining analysis of the political economy of social media with users’ perspectives of their own practises – as well as exploring the tensions between the two – the book provides a detailed picture of intimacy as a complex structure of continuity and change.

Focusing particularly on communication processes in relationships, this text presents the different theories about personal relationships that have emerged from different traditions in communication studies.

This book explores how digital communication generates new intimacies and meanings of friendship in a networked society, developing a theory of mediated intimacies to explain how social media contributes to dramatic changes in our ideas about personal relationships, through themes of self, youth, families, digital dating and online social capital.

Personal Relationships Across the Lifespan presents a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the role of personal relationships in people's lives. Highlighting areas of special significance and research interest at each major life-stage, Patricia Noller, Judith A. Feeney and Candida Peterson, examine how close relationships develop over time and influence individual adjustment. They explore a wide range of relationships, including some that are often neglected, such as those with siblings, adult children and elderly parents. They also look at alternative family forms, such as single-parent families and step-families, and address important themes such as intimacy, conflict and power. With insightful discussion of the theory and methods typically used by researchers working in this area, Personal Relationships Across the Lifespan is an ideal resource for students and researchers of both relationships and lifespan development. It will also be of interest to practitioners, such as social workers and family therapists, working with clients with relational concerns and anyone wanting to learn more about the nature of relationships.

This volume is a philosophical introduction and exploration of the nature and value of personal relationships. It is an ideal text for introductory philosophy, ethics, or applied ethics courses.