Wind Goodfriend 
Intimate Relationships 

Recipient of a 2021 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)

Intimate Relationships provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the science behind relationships using a modern approach. Award-winning teacher and author Wind Goodfriend integrates coverage of family and friendship relationships in context with research methods, open science, theories, and romantic relationships so that readers can learn about all types of relationships and their interactions, including conflict and the dark side of relationships. The text supports today′s students by frequently applying relationship theories to examples that can be found in popular culture, helping students see how psychology can apply to the world that surrounds them.




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Table of Content

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1 • An Introduction to Relationship Science

Why Study Intimate Relationships?

What Are Different Kinds of Intimate Relationships?

How Is This Book Organized?

Chapter 2 • Research Methods and Analysis

What Research Methods Are Used to Study Relationships?

How Are Results Analyzed?

What Is “Open Science”?

Chapter 3 • Attachment Theory

What Is Attachment Theory, and How Was It Formed?

How Is Attachment Theory Measured and Applied to Adult Relationships?

What Are Important Questions For and About Attachment Theory?

Chapter 4 • The Evolutionary Perspective

How Is an Evolutionary Perspective Applied to Intimate Relationships?

How Does This Perspective Explain Sex Differences in Promiscuity and Jealousy?

How Can This Perspective Be Applied to Other Important Relationship Behaviors?

Chapter 5 • Interdependence Theory

What Are the Main Ideas Within Interdependence Theory?

What Factors Predict Relationship Commitment and Stability?

What Advances to the Theory Have Been Made?

Chapter 6 • Relationships Across Our Lifetime

How Do Our Earliest Relationships Form?

How Do We Choose Singlehood Versus Commitment in Young Adulthood?

How Do Relationships Change Later in Life?

Chapter 7 • Friendship

What Predicts How and When Friendships Will Form?

How Are Friendships Maintained?

How Do Friendships Change Over Our Lifetime?

Chapter 8 • Attraction

What Physical Factors Predict Attraction?

What Psychological Factors Predict Attraction?

What Environmental Factors Predict Attraction?

Chapter 9 • Sexuality

What Is the Sexual Spectrum?

How Do People Vary in Their Sexual Desires?

How Does Culture Influence Sexual Thoughts and Behaviors?

Chapter 10 • Social Cognition

How Are Impressions Formed and Maintained?

How Are We Biased Toward Our Current Partner?

How Do Our Worldviews Affect Our Relationships?

Chapter 11 • Communication and Conflict

How Can Communication Build Intimacy in Relationships?

How Has Technology Affected Communication in Relationships?

How Do Couples Engage in Conflict Management?

Chapter 12 • Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence

What Does Research Say About Sexual Assault and Rape?

What Does Relationship Violence Look Like?

How Do Survivors Escape and Heal?

Chapter 13 • Ending or Enduring Love

How Do Couple Members Cope With Relationship Problems?

What Can Couple Members Do to Maintain a Healthy Relationship Over Time?

References

Glossary

Index

About the author

Wind Goodfriend has been teaching psychology at Buena Vista University, a Midwestern liberal arts school for fifteen years. Wind is a three-time Faculty of the Year award winner. She became Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies in 2017. She also serves as the co-director of the trauma advocacy program and volunteers as the chief research officer for the Institute for the Prevention of Relationship Violence. Wind has written 13 book chapters on psychology in pop culture, covering topics including Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman, Doctor Who, Star Trek, and more. She has developed a wide variety of undergraduate courses including special topics classes such as Psychology of Colonialism, Psychology in Popular Film, and Relationship Violence. She received her B.A. from Buena Vista University and both her Master’s and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Purdue University.