Using a relational approach to the study of interpersonal communication, this text provides comprehensive coverage of popular theories and concepts in interpersonal communication. The research base of the book draws heavily from communication, but also emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the study of personal relationships.
The book focuses on communication within close relationships and is organized using a developmental approach: The early chapters focus on processes that shape initial interaction and relational escalation (with the caveat that some of these processes―e.g., self disclosure, uncertainty―also play important roles in established relationships); The middle chapters examine issues related to maintaining a loving, fair, and intimate relationship; The latter chapters focus on challenges relational partners face, including coping with privacy needs, relational transgressions, and conflict. The last chapter is on relationship endings.
The book includes research from various disciplines, such as social psychology and family studies, but the primary focus is communication research.
Laura K. Guerrero (PhD, University of Arizona, 1994) is a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, where she teaches courses in relational communication, nonverbal communication, emotional communication, research methods, and data analysis. She has also taught at the Pennsylvania State University and San Diego State University. Her research focuses on communication in close relationships, such as those between romantic partners, friends, and family members. Her research has examined both the “bright side” of personal relationships, including nonverbal intimacy, forgiveness, relational maintenance, and communication skill, and the “dark side” of personal relationships, including jealousy, hurtful events, conflict, and anger. She recently developed a theoretical framework (hurtful events response theory) to explain patterns of communication following hurtful events in close relationships. Dr. Guerrero has published more than 100 journal articles and chapters related to these topics. In addition to Close Encounters, her book credits include Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships (coauthored with K. Floyd), Nonverbal Communication (coauthored with J. Burgoon & K. Floyd), The Handbook of Communication and Emotion (coedited with P. Andersen), and The Nonverbal Communication Reader (coedited with M. Hecht). She has received several research awards, including the Early Career Achievement Award from the International Association for Relationship Research, the Dickens Research Award from the Western States Communication Association, and the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Interpersonal Communication Division of The International Communication Association. Dr. Guerrero serves on editorial boards for several top journals in communication and relationships. She lives in Phoenix (during the school year) and San Diego (during the summer) with her husband, Vico, and their daughters, Gabrielle and Kristiana. She enjoys reading, writing fiction (when not writing nonfiction), dancing, and taking long walks in the mountains or on the beach.
Peter Andersen (PhD, Florida State University) is a professor at San Diego State University. The author of five books and more than 150 book chapters, research papers, and journal articles, he has received recognition as one of the 100 most published scholars in the field of communication.
Walid A. Afifi (PhD, University of Arizona) is professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches interpersonal communication, relational communication, nonverbal communication, and social marketing. His research revolves around people’s experience of uncertainty and their decisions to seek or avoid information in relational contexts.
