Communicating Affection: Interpersonal Behavior and Social Context

Advances in Personal Relationships

by Kory Floyd

Few behavioral processes are more central to the development and maintenance of intimate relationships than the communication of affection. Indeed, affectionate expressions often initiate and accelerate relational development. By contrast, their absence in established relationships frequently coincides with relational deterioration. This text explores the scientific research on affection exchange to emerge from the disciplines of communication, social psychology, family studies, psychophysiology, anthropology, and nursing. Specific foci include the individual and relational benefits (including health benefits) of affectionate behavior, as well as the significant risks often associated with expressing affection. A new, comprehensive theory of human affection exchange is offered, and its merits relative to existing theories are explored.

234 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Kory Floyd is a National Communication Association Book Award winner and the author of ten books. He has been featured on the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Huff Post Live, NPR, & BBC Radio. His articles have been published by Glamour, Women’s Health, Redbook, Seattle Times,
In Denver Times, and Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Dr. Floyd is professor of health and family communication at Arizona State University in Tempe and a research associate with the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson. Floyd received his bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University, his master’s from the University of Washington, and his PhD from the University of Arizona. Kory Floyd is represented by the Linda Konner Literary Agency in NYC.