ABSTRACT
What makes a relationship successful is unique to the couple members who are in it, and the beginnings of relationships can foretell how they end. Therefore, mate selection and the courtship process are important experiences of relationship development. This chapter focuses on these processes beginning with attraction and relationship initiation and moving to early relationship development. The chapter also includes a discussion of turning points, growth, and change over time. Each section begins with an examination of the primary theoretical perspectives and then moves to key empirical work. The chapter concludes by proposing directions for future research aimed at moving this body of literature forward.
