issues that confront the members of a relationship in process. The contribu-
tors for this intermediate segment analyze: (a) What sorts of events spur con-
flict in a relationship? (b) How do married and single people experience
jealousy? (c) How is jealousy communicated when a threat is perceived? (d)
How do friends use relational power to achieve influence? (e) Do friends and
lovers intentionally embarrass their partners? and (f) How do members of a
romantic relationship communicate with both their individual and mutual
friends? Research on conflict and jealousy has been a popular area of con-
sideration for scholars studying personal relationships. However, the chap-
ters in this volume examine these issues from an interpersonal communication
perspective. The focus here is on how conflict and jealousy are communicat-
ed to a relational partner. Other forms of communication are also considered,
such as attempts by a partner to influence or embarrass, as well as investigat-
ing how friendships exist concurrently with romantic relationships. This
research considers relational development as well as obstacles and barriers
to evolving relationships.

Ultimately, do all good things have to come to an end? The concluding
chapters probe this question. The contributors in this section consider: (a) Why
some friendships are able to flourish for a lifetime while others fail, (b) turn-
ing points that lead romantic partners from passion to commitment, (c) how
partners maintain their interpersonal relationships, and (d) how people use
metaphors to describe the pain of relationships that are lost. The pain that is
metaphorically expressed by communicators in the last of these studies helps
explain the efforts by relational partners to nurture long-term commitments.
Research presented in these final chapters employs innovative techniques to
examine maturing and disengaging relationships. The focus of these studies
is on how interpersonal relationships become committed and mature. The em-
phasis in this section is long-term relational maintenance, rather than predic-
tion of eventual and unavoidable disengagement. Metaphors from terminated
relationships provide an antipode to the communication of intensifying and
maintaining relationships. This research provides a fresh perspective for evalu-
ating the final status of interpersonal relationships.

The contributions in this volume should be of interest to those who study
interpersonal relationships. Given the burgeoning attention close relation-
ships have received from the fields of communication, psychology, sociolo-
gy, and family studies, scholars working in these disciplines may find the
treatment of communication in these relationships to be a useful heuristic
for future research. Contributors present original research that uses a varie-
ty of research methods to study evolving relationships. These diverse ap-
proaches to investigating interpersonal relationships should provide a multi-
level understanding of interpersonal comunication in the context of relational
evolution.

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