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Advances in Personal Relationships Communicating Affection Few behavioral processes are more central to the development and maintenance of intimate relationships than the communication of affection. Indeed, affectionate expressions often initiate and accelerate relational development. By contrast, their absence in established relationships frequently coincides with relational deterioration. This text explores the scientific research on affection exchange to emerge from the disciplines of communication, social psychology, family studies, psychophysiology, anthropology, and nursing. Specific foci include the individual and relational benefits (including health benefits) of affectionate behavior, as well as the significant risks often associated with expressing affection. A new, comprehensive theory of human affection exchange is offered, and its merits relative to existing theories are explored. Kory Floyd is associate professor and director of graduate M.A. studies in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Arizona (1998), an M.A. in speech communication from the University of Washington (1994), and a B.A. in English literature from Western Washington University (1991). He has authored or coauthored four other books and more than 60 journal articles and book chapters on topics related to affectionate communication, nonverbal behavior, and family relationships. In addition, he is currently editor of Journal of Family Communication and has been an associate editor of Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. He has earned a number of awards for his research, including the New Scholar of the Year award from the International Network on Personal Relationships. Advances in Personal Relationships Series Editors: Harry T. Reis, University of Rochester Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, University of Wisconsin-Madison Anita L. Vangelisti, University of Texas, Austin Although scholars from a variety of disciplines have written and conversed about the importance of personal relationships for decades, the emergence of personal relationships as a field of study is relatively recent. Advances in Personal Relationships represents the culmination of years of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary work on personal relationships. Sponsored by the International Association for Relationship Research, the series offers readers cutting-edge research and theory in the field. Contributing authors are internationally known scholars from a variety of disciplines, including social psychology, clinical psychology, communication, history, sociology, gerontology, and family studies. Volumes include integrative reviews, conceptual pieces, summaries of research programs, and major theoretical works. Advances in Personal Relationships presents first-rate scholarship that is both provocative and theoretically grounded. The theoretical and empirical work described by authors will stimulate readers and advance the field by offering up new ideas and retooling old ones. The series will be of interest to upper division undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, and practitioners. Attribution, Communication Behavior, and Close Relationships Valerie Manusov and John H. Harvey Stability and Change in Relationships Anita L. Vangelisti, Harry T. Reis, and Mary Anne Fitzpatrick Understanding Marriage: Developments in the Study of Couple Interaction Patricia Noller and Judith A. Feeney Growing Together: Personal Relationships Across the Lifespan Frieder R. Lang and Karen L. Fingerman Communicating Social Support Daena Goldsmith Communicating Affection Interpersonal Behavior and Social Context KORY FLOY D Arizona State University cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, S˜ao Pau