Perspectives on Marital Interaction

This book brings together a distinguished group of international scholars involved in research on marital interaction. Not only is the list of contributors international but it is also interdisciplinary involving scholars from social psychology, clinical psychology and communications. The book is divided into four main sections. Each section discusses marital communication in a different context: a) Communication as the means by which couples manage their everyday lives; b) Communication and the expression of emotion; c) Communication and problem-solving; and d) Communication and coping with relationships outside the marriage. Although each chapter provides an excellent review of the relevant literature, each author also focuses on the presentation and discussion of new data. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of sex differences in interaction patterns. There is an emphasis on the application of the theoretical and empirical advances in the area of marital interaction research to counselling couples in distress and to improving programmes of communication training. Overview chapters integrate the variety of material and make the book a useful handbook designed to acquaint both the researcher and the practitioner with the developments at the cutting edge of this exciting and important field.