Human Bonding The Science of Affectional Ties

This tightly edited volume provides an integrative overview of human bonding from infancy through adulthood. Through an attachment lens, the book synthesizes classic and cutting-edge research on close relationships and their profound impact in everyday life. Topics include infant-caregiver attachment, human social nature, child and adolescent social development, mate selection, love and sexual desire, hooking up and online dating, keys to relationship success, predictors and consequences of relationship dissolution, and the role of social connectedness in psychological adjustment and physical health. Readers get a solid grounding in the concepts, theories, and methods that define contemporary relationship science.

Introduction, Cindy Hazan and Mary I. Campa
I. Bonding Phenomena from Infancy through Adolescence
1. The First Bonding Experience: The Basics of Infant-Caregiver Attachment, Matthew J. Dykas and Jude Cassidy
2. Built to Bond: Coevolution, Coregulation, and Plasticity in Parent-Infant Bonds, Debra M. Zeifman
3. Developmental Trends and Bonding Milestones: From Parents to Partners, Mary I. Campa
II. Contemporary Approaches to Mating
4. Finding the One: A Process Model of Human Mate Selection, Gül Günaydin, Emre Selcuk, and Cindy Hazan
5. To Pair Bond or Not: The Evolutionary Psychological Approach to Human Mating, Paul W. Eastwick and Natasha D. Tidwell
6. Insights from Animal Models of Social Bonding, J. Thomas Curtis
III. New Topics, Ideas, and Developments
7. Logging On, Hooking Up: The Changing Nature of Romantic Relationship Initiation and Romantic Relating, Susan Sprecher and Sandra Metts
8. Links and Distinctions between Love and Desire: Implications for Same-Sex Sexuality, Lisa M. Diamond
9. Patterns of Relating and of Thinking about Relationships: Conceptualizing and Measuring Individual Differences in the Adult Attachment System, Phillip R. Shaver and Mario Mikulincer
IV. Relationship Effects on Morbidity and Mortality
10. Relationship Well-Being: The Central Role of Perceived Partner Responsiveness, Harry T. Reis
11. The Predictors and Consequences of Relationship Dissolution: Breaking Down Silos, Lauren A. Lee and David A. Sbarra
12. Social Connectedness and Health, Louise C. Hawkley and John T. Cacioppo

Cindy Hazan, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development at Cornell University. A recent recipient of the Scientific Impact Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, she is an internationally recognized scholar whose seminal work on affectional bonds helped define a new field of study in social and personality psychology. Her 1987 article (coauthored with Phillip R. Shaver) "Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process" is one of the ten most cited articles ever published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In addition to her original theoretical and empirical work, Dr. Hazan designed the course "Human Bonding," which she has continued to develop and teach for 25 years at Cornell.

Mary I. Campa, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Skidmore College, where she teaches courses in introductory psychology, adolescent development, and interpersonal relationships. Dr. Campa's research focuses on adolescent and adult development, with an emphasis on close relationships. Her current work is aimed at understanding the reasons why attachment relationships (our closest relationships) are unique and enduring.