The Psychology of Intimacy

The Psychology of Intimacy
Author: Karen J. Prager
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 1997-11-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781572302679

Incorporating the most up-to-date literature in sociology, psychoanalysis, psychology, and communication, this book provides an exhaustive synthesis of theoretical, empirical, and clinical research on personal relationships. Prager explores the complex interconnections between intimacy and individual development, examining relationships from intimacy to old age in their social, cultural, and gender contexts, and constructing an innovative, multi-tiered model of intimate relating. The book also delves into the thoughts and emotions people experience when they behave intimately with each other, and asks how intimate relationships come to be satisfying, stable and harmonious for the people involved. This book will be of interest to researchers, educators, students and practitioners who study or treat close relationships. It will also serve as an invaluable text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on personal relationships, intimacy, and family relations.

Intimacy, Transcendence, and Psychology

Intimacy, Transcendence, and Psychology
Author: Steen Halling
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2008
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN:

This book addresses the richness and depth of our intimate relationships and especially those moments when we come to see ourselves and the other person in a new way. In such moments we realize that however much we are influenced by heredity and upbringing, we are also agents with the capacity for openness and transcendence.

The Psychology of Love and Hate in Intimate Relationships

The Psychology of Love and Hate in Intimate Relationships
Author: Katherine Aumer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2016-06-23
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3319392778

Social psychology has made great advancements in understanding how our romantic relationships function and to some extent, dissolve. However, the social and behavioral sciences in much of western scholarship often focus exclusively on the more positive aspects of intimate relationships--and less so on more controversial or unconventional aspects. The goal of this volume is to explore and illuminate some of these underrepresented aspects: aspects such as non-monogamy, female orgasm, sadism, and hate, that often function alongside love in intimate relationships. Ultimately, by looking at intimate relationships in this way, the volume contributes to and advocates for a more holistic and comprehensive view of intimate relationships. Throughout the volume, contributors from social, clinical, and evolutionary psychology cover love and hate from a variety of (sometimes opposing) perspectives. The first section, covers love and the changing landscape of intimate relationships. Its chapters review the current literature and research of understudied topics like non-monogamy, female orgasm, sexual fantasies, and the viewpoint of love as something other than positive. The second section explores hate and how hate can operate in intimate relationships--for example, the appearance of sadistic behavior and debates the nature of hate as either a motivation or emotion. The volume concludes, by looking at ways in which the appearance of hate in relationships can be dealt with and overcome successfully. Taken together, these two sections reflect the full variety of experiences within intimate relationships. With the aim of exploring how love and hate can-and frequently do-work together, The Psychology of Love and Hate in Intimate Relationships is a fascinating psychological exploration of intimate relationships in modern times. It is an invaluable resource to academics and students specializing in psychology, gender, and sociology, including clinicians and therapists, and all those interested in increasing our knowledge of intimate relationships.

The Science of Intimate Relationships

The Science of Intimate Relationships
Author: Garth J. O. Fletcher
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1118355164

The Science of Intimate Relationships represents the first interdisciplinary approach to the latest scientific findings relating to human sexual relationships. Offers an unusual degree of integration across topics, which include intimate relationships in terms of both mind and body; bonding from infancy to adulthood; selecting mates; love; communication and interaction; sex; passion; relationship dissolution; and more Summarizes the links among human nature, culture, and intimate relationships Presents and integrates the latest findings in the fields of social psychology, evolutionary psychology, human sexuality, neuroscience and biology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and clinical psychology. Authored by four leading experts in the field Instructor materials are available at www.wiley.com/go/fletcher

Handbook of Closeness and Intimacy

Handbook of Closeness and Intimacy
Author: Debra J. Mashek
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2004-04-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135632405

This handbook brings together the latest thinking on the scientific study of closeness and intimacy from some of the most active and widely recognized relationship scholars in social and clinical psychology, communication studies, and related disciplines. Each contributing author defines their understanding of the meaning of closeness and intimacy; summarizes existing research and provides an overview of a theoretical framework; presents new ideas, applications, and previously unstated theoretical connections; and provides cross-references to other chapters to further integrate the material. The Handbook of Closeness and Intimacy will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and students from social, clinical, and developmental psychology; family studies; counseling; and communication.

Positive Psychology of Love

Positive Psychology of Love
Author: M. Hojjat
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2013-06-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0199791066

Positive Psychology of Love brings together the latest research and theory in the field of close relationships from positive psychology, suggesting ways individuals can have more fulfilling close and intimate relationships, and how these relationships may enhance our lives.

Out of Touch

Out of Touch
Author: Michelle Drouin
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0262046679

A behavioral scientist explores love, belongingness, and fulfillment, focusing on how modern technology can both help and hinder our need to connect. A Next Big Idea Club nominee. Millions of people around the world are not getting the physical, emotional, and intellectual intimacy they crave. Through the wonders of modern technology, we are connecting with more people more often than ever before, but are these connections what we long for? Pandemic isolation has made us even more alone. In Out of Touch, Professor of Psychology Michelle Drouin investigates what she calls our intimacy famine, exploring love, belongingness, and fulfillment and considering why relationships carried out on technological platforms may leave us starving for physical connection. Drouin puts it this way: when most of our interactions are through social media, we are taking tiny hits of dopamine rather than the huge shots of oxytocin that an intimate in-person relationship would provide. Drouin explains that intimacy is not just sex—although of course sex is an important part of intimacy. But how important? Drouin reports on surveys that millennials (perhaps distracted by constant Tinder-swiping) have less sex than previous generations. She discusses pandemic puppies, professional cuddlers, the importance of touch, “desire discrepancy” in marriage, and the value of friendships. Online dating, she suggests, might give users too many options; and the internet facilitates “infidelity-related behaviors.” Some technological advances will help us develop and maintain intimate relationships—our phones, for example, can be bridges to emotional support. Some, on the other hand, might leave us out of touch. Drouin explores both of these possibilities.

Intimacy

Intimacy
Author: Ziyad Marar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2014-09-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317545818

The hope for intimacy lies deep within us all. That moment of feeling uniquely understood, the antidote to isolation, is what gives us value, validation and self-belief. But as Ziyad Marar shows in this fascinating and engaging study, intimacy is a tricky business. The prevalence of social media, for example, is a sign of our desire for human connection, yet is a symptom of how little we truly achieve it. Often confused with love, intimacy is in many ways more important. Marar's investigation and celebration of this elusive but profound human experience shows how intimacy is central to a life well lived. But how do we spot the real thing? Marar helpfully identifies a key set of ingredients - reciprocity, conspiracy, heightened emotion, kindness - that when brought together enable the strongest experiences of intimacy. Without these four characteristics in the mix we are experiencing something less, or something else. Drawing on a wide range of sources - from key thinkers, as well as telling examples from familiar films and novels - Marar illustrates the subtlety and intricacies of intimacy and shows how closely it is bound up with notions of trust, control, risk and our own insecurities. Intimacy, argues Marar, is a necessary component of a fulfilled life. Yet we should not take for granted that we know what it is and how to get it. A better understanding of this powerful experience and the many barriers to achieving it may just help us to brave the search for it. For anyone bold enough to do so, which should be all of us, Intimacy is required reading.

Great Myths of Intimate Relationships

Great Myths of Intimate Relationships
Author: Matthew D. Johnson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2016-04-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1118521315

Great Myths of Intimate Relationships provides a captivating, pithy introduction to the subject that challenges and demystifies the many fabrications and stereotypes surrounding relationships, attraction, sex, love, internet dating, and heartbreak. The book thoroughly interrogates the current research on topics such as attraction, sex, love, internet dating, and heartbreak Takes an argument driven approach to the study of intimate relationships, encouraging critical engagement with the subject Part of The Great Myths series, it's written in a style that is compelling and succinct, making it ideal for general readers and undergraduates

Communication, Intimacy, and Close Relationships

Communication, Intimacy, and Close Relationships
Author: Valerian J. Derlega
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2013-10-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483260429

Communication, Intimacy, and Close Relationships offers an account of the nature of intimate relationships and their effects on people's self-concepts. The development and maintenance of intimate relationships are examined, along with people's motives and goals in pursuing intimacy; the nature of social exchanges in intimate relationships; and the consequences for individuals who find themselves socially isolated. The critical role of communication in intimate relationships is given emphasis. Comprised of seven chapters, this book begins with a discussion on the role of self-disclosure in intimate relationships as well as the risks that individuals incur when they self-disclose. The next chapter presents a cognitive interaction model of the nature of intimacy and intimate relationships within the context of cognitive-social learning theory and a systems theory approach to communication. The effect of people's motives on relationships is then considered, together with the role of two fundamental human motives - power and intimacy - on love and friendship. The remaining chapters focus on the importance of the identification process - that is, how people fix their own and others' identities in social interaction - in developing relationships; patterns of nonverbal exchange in close relationships; how and why loneliness occurs; and the nature of social exchange processes in intimate relationships. The book concludes with an epilogue that provides a perspective on why people may find it difficult or easy to form intimate relationships. This monograph should be a valuable resource for psychologists and sociologists.