Motivated Cognition in Relationships

This volume presents seminal empirical findings that show how basic motivations to be safe from being hurt and find value and meaning control how people feel, think, and behave in close relationships. Integrating ideas from the interdependence, goals and embodiment literatures, the authors put a provocative new spin on close relationships. They highlight how motivations infuse romantic life through the vivid and evolving stories of four couples confronting different challenges in their relationship. This book is essential for social psychologists and will also be valuable to clinicians who work directly with couples to effect more happy and stable relationships.