The Mating Game is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, introductory text about human mating relationships aimed specifically at a university audience. It progresses beyond a psychological or biological/physiological stance and encompasses a wide array of disciplines. The comprehensive review and up-to-date information contained in The Mating Game not only provides answers to questions about important life events but also encourages readers' interest in the field of interpersonal relationships and human mating.

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The Mating Game: A Primer on Love, Sex, and Marriage, Second Edition, is the only comprehensive, multidisciplinary, introductory text about human mating relationships aimed specifically at a university audience. It progresses beyond a psychological or biological/physiological stance and encompasses a wide array of disciplines. This comprehensive review of theory and empirical research takes an integrated perspective on the fundamental human experiences of love and sex. Strongly grounded in methodology and research design, author Pamela C. Regan offers relevant examples and anecdotes along with ample pedagogy that will spark debate and discussion on these provocative and complex topics.

New to the Second Edition

Freshly presented material, with reorganized text that provides a smoother transition between major sections; Reviews of the most recent theoretical and empirical work in the areas of love, sexuality, mate selection, and marriage; New information on the phenomenon of “cyber-flirting” and the development of romantic relationships over the Internet; Inclusion of cutting-edge biochemistry research, including a discussion of cutting-edge research on the biochemistry of passion and affection; Discussion of emerging research on non-heterosexual relationships and cross-cultural dynamics; Expanded chapters on critical topics and an important new chapter on relationship intervention

Intended AudienceThis text is ideal for upper level undergraduate or graduate students in psychology, family studies, and sociology, who will find this engaging text a valuable tool for course-related research activities, as well as for self-awareness.

Interpersonal Belief Systems

Interpersonal belief systems

Chapter Outline

  • Attachment Styles
  • Rejection Sensitivity
  • Romanticism
  • Summary

People bring to relationships not only their own enduring personality traits and dispositional tendencies but also a variety of stable relationship-relevant beliefs and expectations. These mental representations—also called relational schemata or implicit relationship theories—consist of a rich web of beliefs, attitudes, values, and expectations that are presumed to develop over time and to influence interpersonal behavior (Baldwin, 1992, 1995; Fletcher & Thomas, 1996). This chapter explores three of these important belief systems.

Attachment Styles

John Bowlby (e.g., 1969) originally proposed the evolutionary concept of attachment or the innate and adaptive “propensity of human beings to make strong affectional bonds to particular others” (Bowlby, 1977, p. 201). He hypothesized that human infants come into the world essentially predisposed to ...

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