Book excerpt: With contributions from the leading experts on relationships, this book covers important issues, such as love as self-expansion, equity in maintaining close relationships, commitment, social support, self-verification, and minding the relationship. The end result is a comprehensive account of the reasons why close relationships are or are not maintained and the manner in which these principles can be applied to current social issues and clinical interventions. Divided into two sections, Part I describes models developed to characterize how relationships are maintained over time, accounts of specific mechanisms at work in close relationships, and conceptualizations of the maintenance and enhancement of close relationships using existing theoretical paradigms. Part II addresses contemporary social issues, as well as clinical applications. Close Romantic Relationships will appeal to students, researchers, and professionals due to its broad sampling of theory and research on relationship maintenance and enhancement.