ABSTRACT
Emotions are part and parcel of our relationships. Indeed, relationships provide people with some of their most intense experiences of joy and sorrow, and people are most likely to experience intense emotion with close relational partners (Berscheid, 1983). In this chapter, emotion is conceptualized as an affective reaction to an event that is appraised as potentially beneficial or harmful to one’s goals. Emotion is further conceptualized in terms of physiological reactions and action tendencies, which can ultimately af-chapter then
provides an in-depth look at the nonverbal behaviors associated with affectionate emotion, hostile emotion, sadness, and anxiety, followed by a discussion of nonverbal skills related to how the expression of these emotions may help people maintain close relationships.
