Your Reference

• Interpersonal relationships, the interconnections between two individuals, are influenced by interpersonal communication, the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between two people who are influenced by their partner’s messages (p. 142).
• We all have a complex relational network or web of relationships. We have family relationships, friendships, and romantic partners, in addition to acquaintances, colleagues, and others (pp. 142–145).
• Love is a deep affection for another person with varying degrees of passion, commitment, and intimacy, or closeness and understanding—and it is important to romantic relationships (pp. 145–148).
• Social information processing theory explains that virtual relationships develop much like those that grow from face-to-face contact but that the process often takes longer to become more intimate. Online relationships have the potential to become even more personal and intimate than face-to-face relationships, aphenomenon known as hyperpersonal communication (p. 148).

• Humans have a natural need for companionship and inclusion—a need to share our lives with others (p. 149).
• Relationship formation involves a number of types of attraction. For attraction to occur, a relationship requires proximity, or nearness (p. 151).
• Research shows that similarity influences attraction; supporting evidence includes the attraction-similarity hypothesis, the matching hypothesis, and the genetic-similarity hypothesis (p. 152).

• Social exchange theory explains how we balance the advantages and disadvantages in our relationships (p. 153).
• Rewards are what make you feel good about the relationship and may be extrinsic, instrumental, or intrinsic. Costs are aspects of the relationship that upset you (pp. 153–154).
• According to uncertainty reduction theory , a relationship priority is to decrease the uncertainty between partners through the use of passive strategies (which involve observing others without actually interacting—pp. 154–155), active strategies (which involve seeking information from a third party—p. 155), and interactive strategies (which involve communicating directly with the person—p. 155).
• Relational dialectics theory holds that dialectical tensions arise when opposing or conflicting goals exist in a relationship (p. 155).
• Individuals may struggle to find a balance between independence (autonomy) and dependence (connection),openness and closedness, and predictability and novelty (pp. 155–156).

• Social penetration theory explains how relational partners move toward intimacy, the primary goal of many relationships (p. 157).
• Communication privacy management theory helps explain how people perceive the information they hold about themselves and how they disclose it (p. 157). Boundary turbulence arises when violations occur in a relationship that make it necessary to readjust the need for disclosure versus privacy (p. 158).
• Strategic topic avoidance is used to maneuver the conversation away from topics that make people feel vulnerable (p. 158).

• The initiating stage is the first contact (p. 159).
• In the exploratory stage, there is superficial communication (p. 159).
• More self-disclosure occurs in the intensification stage (p. 160).
• In the stable stage, expectations are accurate and realistic. We see partners integrating , or becoming one, and bonding , sharing messages about their relationship with the world (p. 160).
• In the declining stage, uncertainty events, interference from outside the relationship, and unmet expectations take a toll, though repair tactics may reverse the decline (pp. 160–162).
• In the termination stage, the relationship fades (passing away) or is unexpectedly terminated by one partner (sudden death) (pp. 162–163).
• Reconciliation is a repair strategy for rekindling an extinguished relationship (pp. 163–164).