How can we get the most out of our close relationships? Research in the area of personal relationships continues to grow, but most prior work has emphasized how to overcome negative aspects. This volume demonstrates that a good relationship is more than simply the absence of a bad relationship, and that establishing and maintaining optimal relationships entails enacting a set of processes that are distinct from merely avoiding negative or harmful behaviors. Drawing on recent relationship science to explore issues such as intimacy, attachment, passion, sacrifice, and compassionate goals, the essays in this volume emphasize the positive features that allow relationships to flourish. In doing so, they integrate several theoretical perspectives, concepts, and mechanisms that produce optimal relationships. The volume also includes a section on intensive and abbreviated interventions that have been empirically validated to be effective in promoting the positive features of close relationships.

Thirty-three of the top scholars in this fast moving domain present a picture of work at the cusp in social psychology -- work that deals with cognition and affect in close relationships. The present volume contains a wealth of research findings and influential theoretical accounts that spring as much from indigenous work in the close relationship field as from purebred social cognition. The chapters introduce theories and research programs concerned with the role of individual and couple differences in close relationship knowledge structures. They deal with the role of emotion and affect in close relationships. And they discuss the function of cognition and knowledge structures in relation to the developmental course of close relationships. Each section is accompanied by a critical review written by an expert in the field. This volume is a must for any close relationship scholar interested in the latest research and theorizing about close relationships that adopt a social psychological perspective. It will also be of interest to scholars and students working in clinical psychology, social cognition, communication, individual differences, and family studies.

The revolutionary approach presented in Self-expansion not only complies with the principal scientific results, but also integrates what is remarkable in psychology. It explains everyday phenomena, such as love, sex, aggression, altruism, and problem-solving, in an easy to understand way.The simplicity and ease of application of the model roots in systems theory. The whole model complies with key findings in evolutionary biology.Although its main purpose is to integrate psychology, Self-expansion can be used as a self-help book. The powerful theory described in the book explains in a rational way notions such as hell, heaven, or enlightenment, and guides you on how to live your life in order to reach happiness.

The book is intended for those who feel that the science of psychology needs a concept that integrates the current thinking schools.The author, a European psychologist active in HR consulting, has developed a thinking frame, a paradigm, that is independent of current research schools, but which integrates in a simple model existing results and theories of psychology.The book contains formal and visual descriptions of the suggested model, as well as independent articles that use this model in everyday life, dealing with phenomena including problem solving, altruism, aggression, sex, and religion.Although elements of this concept are already known, to enable a better understanding of this new perspective on human beings, the book contains many illustrations and easy-to-understand examples. In this way the book can reach every person who is interested in social sciences and who would like to improve their understanding of our selves, as well as psychologists and scientists in this field.

The author examines how systems connect, and the effects these connections have upon the successful adaptation of systems. His conclusions are explained using general concepts (such as, input, output, or operation), validated by theory, and are appli-cable to concrete systems. From these, it is principally the specifics of human thinking and behavior that have been examined in detail. The main point of this model is its new approach to, and new slant on, modern academic research. Yet the conclusions of the model do not contradict current trends in modern psychology, but rather are in harmony with other cultural systems beyond the scope of science (such as religion, art, common sense).

Here is the first, comprehensive volume in a field that has grown exponentially in the last ten years. The handbook is organized across disciplines to reflect the nature of the field, and has a broad range of appeal to a variety of teachers and researchers.