Close relationships and social psychology: Intersections and future paths

The study of close relationships is both a subarea within social psychology and a field involving scholars from many disciplines. We first describe the development and current state of the field. Next we discuss four issues raised in the literature on close relationships that have particular import for social psychology: the relational embeddedneas of social behavior, couple identity, social networks, and love. We end by suggesting several avenues for future research: the social environmental context; the influence of cultural, social structural, and historical factors; the dark side of relationships; and greater interchange between theories within social psychology, sociology, and close relationships.