definitions of sexuality offered in the literature (see Aron and Aron this volume).
We prefer the sociological definition offered by Reiss ( 1989). He defines sexu-
ality as "the erotic arousal and genital responses resulting from following the
shared sexual scripts of that society" (p. 6). Sexual scripts indicate the with
whom, where, when, how, and why the erotic arousal and genital responses may
occur. For example, our society encourages sexual behavior (e.g., sexual inter-
course) within the institution of marriage or another close relationship and in a
private location. Although this book is about erotic arousal and genital re-
sponses, it is also about a lot more. We use sexuality very generally to refer to
sexual behaviors, arousal, and responses, as well as to sexual attitudes, desires,
and communication.

Although we use the term close relationships in the title, the relationships
could also have been described as personal, interpersonal, significant, intimate,
meaningful, loving, or committed. In fact, the various contributors to this vol-
ume use all of these adjectives and others to describe the type of relationship in
which sexuality usually occurs. Our choice of close relationships is based on our
observation that relationship investigators are increasingly focusing on the con-
cept of relationship closeness or using the phrase close relationships (see, e.g.,
Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989; Clark & Reis, 1988; Kelley et al., 1983).

Kelley et al. ( 1983) define a close relationship as having a high degree of
interdependence. They write that

A high degree of interdependence between two people is revealed in four properties
of their interconnected activities: (1) the individuals have frequent impact on each
other; (2) the degree of impact per each occurrence is strong; (3) the impact
involves diverse kinds of activities for each person; and (4) all of these properties
characterize the interconnected activity series for a relatively long duration of time.
(p. 13)

Most of us are interdependent (and thus close) with several people--parents,
friends, siblings, children, and a romantic partner.

Sexual behavior and/or sexual desire do not occur in all close relationships,
nor is a close relationship necessary for having sex. Most people in our society,
however, experience most of their erotic arousal and orgasms in relationships that
have varying degrees of closeness. That is, while two people are involved sexu-
ally, they usually interact frequently, engage in several activities together (and
not just sex), influence each other's behaviors, decisions, goals, and so forth.
This interdependence is long term rather than short duration. The result is that the
sexual aspect of the close relationship is intertwined with several other aspects of
the relationship--such as communication, love, and emotions. Some of the
chapters in the volume focus on the intertwining of sexuality and relationship
characteristics.

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