Examines the association of attachment organization and recalled grief responses following the dissolution of a romantic relationship. Data based on college students' (N=118) responses resulted in four interpretable grief themes. Preoccupied attachment predicted self-reproach, fearful attachment predicted partner blame, whereas both fearful and…

Investigates the influence of childhood physical abuse and gender on intimacy. Results, based on 276 college students, indicate that nonabused respondents were significantly higher in intimacy than were abused respondents. No significant gender differences were found. Findings suggest that child abuse hinders children in forming intimate…

Using data from a longitudinal study of adolescents (N=608), an examination was made into the connection between the experience of physical discipline in childhood and violence in intimate relationships. It was determined that harsh physical punishment in childhood is directly related to greater perpetration of violence later against an intimate…

Considers how various theories of nonverbal adaptation feature behavioral valence and degree of behavioral change as critical elements affecting whether changes in nonverbal intimacy are met with reciprocity or compensation among 100 undergraduate student romantic dyads. Makes comparisons across five conditions: very low intimacy, low intimacy,…

Finds that verbal behaviors were more important to the closeness of women's relationships than men's, but that shared activities were not more important to men than to women. Finds that verbal behaviors were also more important to the closeness of friendships than they were to sibling relationships. (SR)

The authors assessed factors that motivate individuals to report negative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody test results, although they had never been tested. In particular, they investigated sexual intimacy motives associated with the needs for affiliation, sex, and dominance as contributing factors for faulty disclosures. Participants…

We describe Marriage 101: Building Loving and Lasting Partnerships, an innovative, for-credit undergraduate course at a large, religiously unaffiliated research university. Marriage 101 engages students in the scientific literature and discourse in the psychology and sociology of marriage and marital success. The course has the additional…

Although research has examined marital satisfaction in later life, little is known about the specific relationship challenges that older couples experience. Thus, the objective of the study was to explore the challenges older couples face. Data came from the USC Longitudinal Study of Generations. Qualitative analysis was conducted on 105 older…

Examined grade and gender differences in the association between perceived intimacy and power boundary violations and conflict goal reports among 177 adolescents. Found that adolescents' perceptions of intimacy boundary violations were associated with reports of relational and avoidance goals. Grade and gender moderated the association between…

This essay stages a theoretically driven critique of Lawrence Kasdan's film "The Big Chill" as a productive example of a constitutive contradiction animating the liberal political imaginary. In particular, it argues that liberalism relies irreducibly on an under-examined conception of friendship to supply its model of citizenship as a distinctive,…

When Morris Dees was a young man in Alabama, the law said that black people couldn't drink from the same water fountain as white people, or sit at the same lunch counter. Back then, the government created and sanctioned divisions between human beings. The Civil Rights Movement changed all of that, of course, and ended state-mandated apartheid in…

Findings from previous studies examining the relation between women's employment and the risk of intimate partner violence have been mixed. Some studies find greater violence toward women who are employed, whereas others find the opposite relation or no relation at all. I propose a new framework in which a woman's employment status and her risk of…

Introducing students to sensitive social issues like intimate violence in lower level courses can spark their sociological imaginations motivating them to do further research in order to gain reflective knowledge about such topics. In order to promote two course objectives: (1) recognizing and applying sociological concepts and theories, and (2)…

Background: Appropriate assessment is an essential part of treating sexual offenders. Few assessments exist that can be used with offenders who have lower levels of intellectual functioning and/or literacy deficits. Method: This study describes the adaptation of four self-report assessments for sexual offenders with special needs: (i) the "Social…

Comments on the article by Robert Bornstein, "The Complex Relationship Between Dependency and Domestic Violence,". Bornstein's attention to both types of dependency and women's experiences of domestic violence. I believe that his discussion of these complex relationships and social policy recommendations may be enhanced with a more integrated and…