Modern research on modern love.
Award-winning teachers Bradbury and Karney present intimacy across age groups, identities, and sexualities to show students the science of modern relationships. From online dating to social media, Intimate Relationships offers a fun, approachable introduction to relationship science for today’s students.
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Read Actively with the Norton Illumine Ebook
The new Norton Illumine Ebook features Check Your Understanding questions with rich, answer-specific feedback
Experience New Perspectives videos connect research to real life, featuring students discussing their personal experiences with important concepts from the text.
Explore the Research features invite students to make predictions about research data.
Features of the New Edition
Expanded coverage of transgender and nonbinary identities
With an expanded discussion on transgender and nonbinary identities in Chapter 4 and an entirely new section on bisexuality in Chapter 5, the new edition offers the most inclusive, cutting-edge research in the field.
New research on COVID's impact on relationships
New for the Fourth Edition, the authors explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted couples everywhere, including an extensive discussion of COVID-19 as a stressor in Chapter 13.
How digital communications influence relationship longevity
Chapter 7 has been revamped with an extensive discussion on romantic attraction and desirability in an online environment, while Chapter 8 explores current research on how digital communication impacts intimacy over time.
About the Authors
Thomas N. Bradbury is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in using observational and longitudinal methods to examine how newlywed marriages develop and change. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two very large and affectionate Bernese Mountain Dogs.
Benjamin R. Karney teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he offers graduate and undergraduate classes on intimate relationships. He researches the various ways that intimate partners interpret the events of their relationships and the effects of stress on lower-income and military marriages. Ben is the proud parent of two children, Daniella and Gabriel, and owns far too many books.
What Instructors are Saying
“A textbook that your students will love and want to keep once the class is over.”
– Justin Moss
Arkansas Tech University
“This book provides a wealth of information about relationship science (theories, methods, and research). I appreciate the highly engaging and accessible writing; the examples and situations bring the research to life for students.”
– Lauren M. Papp
University of Wisconsin-Madison
“I am hooked on this book.”
– Sherryl H. Goodman, Ph.D.
Emory University
Image Credits: (Bradbury) Timothy Bradbury; (Karney) Michal Czerwonka
Copyright © W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2024