Stepping in the Right Direction

Collectively, the articles published in this issue remind us of the advantages of studying a variety of types of relationships in a variety of cultural contexts. Although in the editor's preface to the last issue of Personal Relationships (Volume 16, Number 1), I discussed the importance to the field of the in-depth literature focused on romantic relationships, ultimately the further development of a literature describing how the variation in the structures, processes, and consequences of romantic, marital, sibling, parent-child, friend, and other types of close relationships will be necessary to advance the field. Without the development of a robust comparative literature, it will, for example, remain unknown whether hierarchical relationships such as those between parents and children involve different processes and lead to different consequences than ones where equality is more likely such as friendship, whether legally recognized romantic relationships such as heterosexual marriages differ systematically from those that exist without legally-binding contracts such as co-habiting heterosexual or homosexual couples, and whether relationships determined by blood ties such as those between siblings differ in significant ways from those that are generally more voluntary such as friendships. Yes, this issue includes some studies of romantic partners and married couples, but it also includes studies of close relationship partners (including spouses, friends, and family members), parent-child relationships, and social networks and therefore represents “a step in the right direction.”