Description
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.
Chapter
2 thinking about affection: The Theories
Some Specific Theories in the Bioevolutionary Paradigm
Some Specific Theories in the Sociocultural Paradigm
On the status of affectionate communication theory
3 encoding affectionate messages
A Tripartite Model for Encoding Affectionate Messages
Direct Nonverbal Gestures
idiomatic expressions of affection
influences on affectionate communication
Sex, Sex Composition, and Gender
Individual Differences Other than Sex or Gender
Contextual Characteristics
4
Decoding and Responding
to Affectionate Expressions
decoding behaviors as affectionate
Congruence between Behaviors and Affectionate Interpretations
Ratings of Intensity for Affectionate Expressions
responding to expressions of affection
Responding Cognitively to Affectionate Expressions
Responding Behaviorally to Affectionate Expressions
5 benefits of expressing and receiving affection
Describing the benefits of affectionate communication
Benefits Associated with Receiving Affection
Benefits Associated with Communicating Affection
Relational Benefits Associated with Affectionate Communication
Attributions for the benefits of affectionate communication
The Respective Influence of Affection Given and Affection Received
On the Physiology of Affectionate Communication
The Adaptive Advantages of Pair Bonding
6 risks associated with affectionate communication
risks for senders of affectionate messages
Risk of Misinterpretation
Risk of Disease Transmission
Potential problems for receivers of affectionate expressions
Expectations for Reciprocity
Relational Boundary Ambiguity
Affectionate Expressions as Manipulation Attempts
7 a new theoretic approach
On the Sufficiency of Existing Theories Related
to Affectionate Communication
Areas in Which Existing Theories Have Been Profitable
Areas in Which Existing Theories Are Limited
Prefaces to a Neo-Darwinian Theory of Affectionate
Communication
A Primer on the Theory of Natural Selection
Adaptations Deal with Proximal and Ultimate Levels of Causation
Adaptations Need Not Operate at a Conscious Level
Adaptations Need Not Be Adaptive for Present-Day Life
Adaptations Need Not Be Adaptive for Every Person, or in Every Instance
Adaptations Operate at the Individual Level, Not the Group or Species Level
A theory on human affectionate communication
Preview of Affection Exchange Theory
8 affectionate communication in human interaction
some qualified conclusions about Affectionate
Communication
Affectionate Communication Is Ubiquitous in Human Relationships
Affectionate Communication Overlaps Only Partially with Affectionate Emotion
Affectionate Communication Is Strongly Influenced by Social and Cultural Norms
Affectionate Communication Is Strongly Linked to Mental and Physical Health
Affectionate Communication Benefits Those Who Give It as Well as Those Who Receive It
Affectionate Communication’s Effects Can Be Strongly Negative
as Well as Strongly Positive
Communicating Affection
：Interpersonal Behavior and Social Context
( Advances in Personal Relationships )
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