Minding the Close Relationship: A Theory of Relationship Enhancement

This volume provides a statement of a new theory of how committed romantic partners can maintain and enhance their close relationships over an extended period. It blends the relationship scholarship on closeness with practical advice and comparison of minding with several other major theories of how to maintain closeness. Minding is a package of reciprocal thought, feeling and behaviour and involves components of behaviour aimed at knowing and being known by one's partner, attribution about one's partner and the relationship, respect, acceptance and a never-ending commitment to the process. Minding the Close Relationship will serve as a supplementary textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in social psychology, communication, family studies, and clinical and counselling psychology.

John H. Harvey is Professor of Psychology at the University of Iowa. Julia Omarzu is currently a doctoral candidate in Personality and Social Psychology at the University of Iowa.