By exploring the categorical similarities between popular models of science, political economy, psychology, and sexuality, this dissertation addresses modern U.S. poetry's obsession with conjuring the unsayable. Chapters 1 and 2 explore the social and conceptual landscape that came to align the sayable with the cognitive and credible, while…

Are cohabiting couples more likely than married couples to break up in response to perceptions that their relationship is not fair? Based on social psychological perspectives on intimate relationship stability, in addition to empirical research contrasting cohabitation with marriage, I hypothesize that cohabiting couples will be more likely than…

Sexual health is a widespread concern for intimate partners. As couples transition to marriage, it is vitally important to explore issues related to sexual health. Moreover, premarital counselors are encouraged to facilitate a sexual health discussion with premarital couples. This article presents the importance of raising the topic of sexual…

The article presents an integrated theoretical perspective on the origin, maintenance and alteration of relational conflict. It suggests that relational conflict and reconciliation can be understood as two behavioral alternatives that couples respond with during the experience of pain or other negative emotion. The presence of pain elicits a…

The researchers adopted relational dialectics theory (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996) to examine the discourse of 37 bereaved parents. Research questions guiding the study were what dialectical contradictions do bereaved parents experience when communicating with their marital partner after their child's death and how do bereaved parents and their…

This study examined linguistic politeness behaviors and their relationship to social distance among members of a diasporic Bengali community on the social network site "Orkut"[R]. Using data from computer-mediated communication (CMC), specifically text messages posted on "Orkut"[R] "scrapbooks," it developed a method to test the claims of the…

Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes including rapid physical growth, the onset of sexual maturation, the activation of new drives and motivations, and a wide array of social and affective changes and challenges. This review focuses on behavioral changes in this interval and is organized by the claim that a key set of these adolescent changes…

In recent years young people's lives have been characterized by postponement of developmental timetables, inconsistencies of transitions, and loss of direction in life. Data from a longitudinal study of Israeli young adults show that the capacity for setting realistic work and love goals reflects inner strengths and is associated with adaptive…

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex social problem that social workers must be trained to address, using the best available evidence. In this article we review divergent theories, research findings, and methods that underpin debates about the role of gender in IPV perpetration and victimization. We examine the literature that…

Whilst public awareness campaigns, interventions and legal reforms have done much to challenge gendered interpersonal violence, the incidence and prevalence of this violence is not decreasing. Furthermore, research with young people reveals significant acceptance and tolerance of interpersonal violence if perpetrated by men within the parameters…

This study examined the contributions of gender, adult romantic attachment orientations (i.e., avoidance, anxiety), defense mechanisms (i.e., narcissism, other-splitting), and stressors to college student psychological abuse perpetration (dominance). Men with higher levels of attachment avoidance, narcissistic entitlement, and stressful problems…

In order for adolescents to undergo a healthy maturation into adulthood, they must be given common opportunities to reinvent themselves and to progress along stages of psychosocial development. Due to heterosexual conditioning and a lack of awareness of the need for social connectivity that may lead to intimacy, gay and lesbian adolescents lapse…

This study explored the association between household financial arrangements and relationship quality using a representative sample of low-income couples with children. We detailed the banking arrangements couples utilize, assessed which factors relate to holding a joint account versus joint and separate, only separate, or no account, and analyzed…

This study investigated the effects of nonverbal self-disclosure within the dynamic of aptitude-treatment interaction. Participants (N = 94) watched a video of a career counseling session aimed at helping the jobseeker to find employment. The video was then edited to display 3 varying degrees of nonverbal self-disclosure. In conjunction with the…

This study examined how the quality of relationships with parents and friends were related to intimacy, commitment, and passion in adolescents' romantic relationships for indigenous Dutch and ethnic Dutch adolescents. Self-report survey data were used from 444 (88.9%) indigenous Dutch and 55 (11.1%) ethnic Dutch adolescents between 12 and 18 years…