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INTRODUCTION
Since Clark & Reis' (1988) review of the relationship domain, the field has experienced phenomenal growth. Relationship scholars now must monitor an increasing number of journals in which relationship theory and research is published as well as the growing number of books and conferences devoted to relationship work. They also must be sensitive to the methodological and analytical techniques the study of interpersonal relationships requires because of the temporal nature of relationships, the dependency of dyadic observations, and the dichotomous nature of important outcome variables (e.g. Bradbury & Fincham 1991, Godwin 1988, Johnson 1988, Kenny & Kashy 1991, Montgomery & Duck 1991, Morgan & Teachman 1988, Robins 1990).
The profusion of recent writings on relationship phenomena has its source in widening recognition that many of the questions traditionally addressed by the social and behavioral sciences, and by several of the health sciences, directly engage questions about interpersonal relationships. As a result, the multidisciplinary nature of the relationship field has become apparent, and interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-pollinization of theory and technique is increasingly evident. Along with psychology, the disciplines of sociology, of marital and family therapy, and of communication remain vital and sustained conuibutors to relationship knowledge. Within psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, and clinical psychology are the largest current contributors to relationship theory and research.
Each discipline tends to address certain types of relationships. Taking an empirically pragmatic and largely atheoretical approach (see Berardo 1990, Lavee & Dollahite 1991, Nye 1988 for reviews), sociologists examine the associations between macro-societal forces and the changing forms and stability of family relationships as well as such outcomes as marital satisfaction. Researchers in marital and family therapy, a field that includes many clinical psychologists, are concerned primarily with identifying the sources of distress within marital relationships and the efficacy of intervention strategies (see O'Leary & Smith 1991), as are many communication researchers who often attempt to identify dysfunctional communication patterns (see Noller & Fitzpatrick 1990). Developmental psychologists address relationships between parents and children and child-peer relationships (Hartup 1989). Collins & Gunnar (1990) recently reviewed some of this work. Lesser interest has been shown in life-span developmental questions pertaining to the relationships of older adults (but see Reis et al 1993, Caspi & Herbener 1990; see Blieszner & Adams...