Closeness and interdependence are considered to be essential components of any intimate relationship of significant duration.These core processes, however, can also be manifested in one-time interactions between strangers, with positive consequences including an increase in positive mood and belongingness. Many years ago, Art Aron and his colleagues developed a closeness-generating exercise (sometimes referred to as the Fast Friends procedure) that was designed to generate “a temporary feeling of closeness, not an actual ongoing relationship” within pairs of strangers. Other closeness- and interdependence-inducing tasks have also been developed including additional ones based on structured, self-disclosure and some based on doing activities such as playing a game or engaging in humorous activities.In this chapter, I describe the different tasks that have been developed to create a feeling of closeness or interdependence in initial structured interactions, the types of research questions that have been addressed with this method, and sample findings across multiple lines of research. Although there are limits in the degree to which findings from research based on temporary feelings of closeness in a laboratory setting can generalize to initial interactions and developed relationships in the “real world,” creating closeness and interdependence in a laboratory setting allows researchers to test the influence of various theoretically-important variables, including individual characteristics (shyness), the context of the interaction (medium of communication), and mediators (perception of being liked by the other).

Relationships are embedded in broader social networks, including the family and friends of both partners. Covering contributions from several disciplines, this chapter discusses the role of social networks in the maintenance of intimate relationships. We first describe findings from the communication field showing how people use their social networks (such as through doing activities with mutual friends) as one of several strategies to maintain their relationships. Then, we discuss social psychological literature regarding how social networks affect both dyad members’ motivation to engage in various maintenance mechanisms that follow from their decision to commit. Furthermore, the social network can be instrumental in influencing pair members’ ability to maintain their relationship, including by giving advice to help repair relationships, which is also discussed in this chapter. We then turn to more macro-level issues regarding the compositional or structural dimensions of social networks and the ways in which they play a role in the maintenance of couples’ relationships. Variation in the processes of network influence on the maintenance of relationships is also considered, including how networks differentially influence relationship maintenance across the life course and through technology (e.g., social media).

Intimate relationships begin, develop, are maintained, change, and dissolve within a larger environment. Although personal characteristics of the pair members and properties that emerge from their interaction (e.g., love) affect the temporal course and outcome of a relationship, the larger environment also is important, and, in fact, can influence the properties that emerge in the pair's interaction. The environment includes both physical forces (e.g., proximity, physical setting) and social networks. The focus of this chapter is on social networks of family and friends and their influences on change and stability in intimate relationships.

Social scientists interested in relationship development, satisfaction, commitment, stability, and other relationship phenomena have generally neglected social environmental explanations, as noted many years ago (e.g., Ridley & Avery, 1979) and also more recently (Berscheid, 1999; Berscheid & Reis, 1998). However, theoretical and empirical contributions on the influence of social networks on intimate relationships have been growing. In the first section of this chapter, we provide a synthesis of previous theoretical statements linking social networks with personal relationships and highlight what we believe to be the network processes and attributes most likely to influence relationships. Next we discuss how these network processes and attributes are related to the formation, development, and stability versus dissolution of premarital relationships. The third section provides a review of the influence of social networks on marriage and other committed relationships.