By the end of this course, each of the students will be able to describe and discuss each of the following:

the building blocks of relationships referring to the nature and importance of intimacy, the influence of culture, the influence of experience, the influence of individual differences the influence of human nature the influence of interaction

research methods The nature of data Qualitative research Quantitative methods in close Relationships research

attachment and close relationships, social cognition, the power of perceptions, and the effects of first impressions, the effect of nonverbal, verbal, and dysfunctional communication in close relationships, interdependency based on Social Exchange Theory, Interdependence Theory, and theories of commitment, the nature of friendships, the history and types of love, and how love displays differences across individuals and cultures, sexuality including sexual attitudes, sexual behavior, and sexual satisfaction, stresses and strains in integration with perceived self and relational value, jealousy, lying, betrayal, and forgiveness, conflict, its nature and outcomes of conflicts in intimate relationships, power and violence in close relationships, the dissolution and loss of relationships taking into consideration the predictors of divorce, breakup, and aftermath of breakup, maintaining and repairing close relationships.