Attracting And Loving People: The Psychology Of Romantic Relationships

What is the evolutionary logic of romance? Is the heart a lonely hunter? What is beauty? After a heartbreak, must we go back to square one?<i>Attracting and Loving People</i> provides an accessible, stimulating, and scholarly introduction to the social psychological literature on romantic relationships. From Cupid to the chromosome, Michael Cunningham and Anita Barbee draw from a wide range of scientific findings and psychological perspectives. Reinforcement-equity theory, cognitive attribution theory, personality trait theory, and attachment theory, along with sociobiology, all play a part in understanding the nature of contemporary romantic relationships. The authors also develop the concepts of attachment, intimacy, and passion and study the effects and roles of shyness, loneliness, breakups, words, deeds, context, and environment.Offering a wealth of anecdotes and detailed examples, <i>Attracting and Loving People</i> distills the complex issues of romantic relationships and clearly communicates their inner workings.