Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships

Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships, Fourth Edition   takes a relational approach to the study of interpersonal communication by focusing on issues that are central to describing and understanding close relationships.   Although the primary focus is on communication research, this book emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the study of personal relationships by including research from various disciplines such as social psychology and family studies. Organized using a developmental approach, the authors first look at initial interaction and relational escalation, then move on to issues related to maintaining intimate relationships, and finally focus on challenges relational partners face, including relationship endings.

Table of Contents:
1. Conceptualizing Relational Communication 2. Communicating Identity 3. Drawing People Together 4. Making Sense of Our World 5. Changing Relationships: Stages, Turning Points, and Dialectics 6. Revealing and Hiding Ourselves 7. Communicating Closeness 8. Making a Love Connection 9. Communicating Sexuality: The Closest Physical Encounter 10. Staying Close 11. Coping With Conflict 12. Influencing Each Other 13. Hurting the Ones We Love 14. Healing the Hurt 15. Ending Relationships

About the Author :
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.

Review :
"I have been collecting feedback from students in my Interpersonal Communication classes, and specifically have asked about their impressions of the text, Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships. They love it. I have never had such overwhelming, positive reactions to any textbook. Here's a sample response: 'I feel like I have been put in this class to really learn and apply something to my life because it seems like the authors are talking directly to me and relating things to my life right at this very moment. I love this class and this book. I actually do all the readings and enjoy them. I may just have to keep this book.'" -- Kara Laskowski Reviewer "This is the one text that I have selected for which I have not received student complaints. I think the students find it interesting and easy to read." -- Todd Lee Goen "One of my main goals is to get my students to move beyond the over-simplified textbooks and actually dig into the research. This book provides a nice transition." -- Rick Murphy "This book provides a good coverage of the major topics in the field and effectively synthesizes major research findings in each area. I appreciate the theoretical nature of the book. Students who enter the course thinking they know everything about Interpersonal Communication quickly figure out that the course will be both challenging and interesting when they begin to read the book." -- Melanie Laliker "I like the text...good array of major topics in the discipline." -- Lisa (Farinelli) Allen "The book is a nice read, easy to digest but true to the literature." -- Graham Bodie