ABSTRACT
Aswe noted at the outset, the chapters in thisHandbook focus specifically on closeness and intimacy, bringing together the latest thinking froma group of themost active and widely recognized researchers who have addressed these topics in social psychology, clinical psychology, communication studies, and related disciplines. In general, the authors of each chapter spelled out what they mean by closeness or intimacy; summarized an ongoing program of theory-based research focusing on its relevance to closeness or intimacy as they have defined it; and offered a variety of new ideas, new applications, and previously unstated theoretical connections.
