Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships

A relational approach to the study of interpersonal communication Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships, Fifth Edition helps students better understand their relationships with romantic partners, friends, and family members. Bestselling authors Laura K. Guerrero, Peter A. Andersen, and Walid A. Afifi offer research-based insights and content illustrated with engaging scenarios to show how state-of-the-art research and theory can be applied to specific issues within relationships--with a focus on issues that are central to describing and understanding close relationships. While maintaining the spotlight on communication, the authors also emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the study of personal relationships by including research from such disciplines as social psychology and family studies. The book covers issues relevant to developing, maintaining, repairing, and ending relationships. Both the bright and dark sides of interpersonal communication within relationships are explored. --Janie Harden Fritz

About the Author :
Laura K. Guerrero has been at Arizona State since 1996 where she teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses on relational communication, nonverbal communication, statistics, and research methods. Her research focuses on communication in close relationships, emphasizing nonverbal messages, emotion, and the dark" and "bright" sides of interpersonal communication. She is the co-author/co-editor of Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships (Erlbaum), The Nonverbal Communication Reader, Third Edition (Waveland Press), Nonverbal Communication (Pearson), and the Handbook of Communication and Emotion (Academic Press). 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 :
"Written by leading communication scholars, this text provides an excellent blend of classic and contemporary research on communication in relationships written in an accessible style that is sure to engage students. It's a textbook instructors can trust and students can enjoy."--Janie Harden Fritz "This book provides the most up to date, relatable information to current students. The book is easy to read and invites students to discover more about their own interpersonal relationships while learning more about theories that form the basis for our discipline."--Annelise Ewing Goodman "This book does a superb job in providing the most comprehensive, up-to-date knowledge about Close Relationship Communication!"--Dr. Xiaowei Shi "The pedagogical activities and supplements create opportunities for students to apply classroom concepts to real-life situations."--Rukhsana Ahmed "The book is user friendly and it's very applicable."--Leslie Ramos Salazar "The authors have conceptualized an interesting, well-written book that inspires student learning. The interdisciplinary approach of this book allows for the most influential theories and concepts to be discussed in a systematic manner."--Kandi Walker "I've always appreciated how the text facilitates an identification and examination of the basic elements of the human communication process. The texts connection to understanding the self, first and then how we set "roles" and "goals" that include language and verbal communication, nonverbal communication, relational messages, self-identity, perception, listening, social roles, and communication climate is great. Also, several of the activities within the text challenge students to observe and reflect on these elements as they apply to their own lives in various social contexts. The contexts students will examine because of departmental agendas include intercultural settings, family interaction, public relationships, friendships, intimate relationships, and gender communication toward social justice. Therefore, the text is ideal in aiding in recognition how the basic elements of communication and specific contexts are framed and shaped by broader cultural, historical, and social forces. Most importantly, this text provides opportunities to engage in transformative education by a thoughtful facilitation of interpersonal contexts"--Nicholas A. Zoffel "I like the way the authors apply scholarship in an easily digestible manner."--Valerie Young "A social scientific approach to interpersonal communication that is very thorough at going through much of the pertinent literature. For the social scientist, this will be an approach he/she can appreciate."--Cory Williams "A must read for teachers and students alike to have a better understanding of our interpersonal relationships in the new age!"--Cheryl Pawlowski