ABSTRACT
The term 'close' is sometimes used as a substitute for 'personal' in the relationship context, although this term is fraught with difficulties. For example, some marriages are much closer than others , and , in most relationships, feelings of closeness wax and wane over time. For these reasons, we generally prefer to use the term 'personal ', unless we are referring specifically to the closeness or intimacy of a relationship, or to previous research which has used the term 'close ' .
