Understanding Research in Personal Relationships

Steve Duck taught at two universities in the United Kingdom before taking up the Daniel and Amy Starch Distinguished Research Chair in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa, where he is a professor of communication studies and adjunct professor of psychology. He is also a Dean's Administrative Fellow and Chair of the Rhetoric Department. Duck has taught several interpersonal communication courses, mostly on relationships, but also on nonverbal communication, communication in everyday life, construction of identity, communication theory, organizational leadership, and procedures and practices for leaders. Duck has written or edited 60 books on relationships and founded the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, which he served as Editor for 15 year, and co-founded a series of international conferences on personal relations. His book, Meaningful Relationships: Talking, Sense, and Relating, won the G. R. Miller Book Award from the Interpersonal Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Duck has also won several personal awards such as the University of Iowa's first Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2001, the 2004 National Communication Association's Robert J. Kibler Memorial Award, the 2010 Helen Kechriotis Nelson Teaching Award from UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and elected 2010 Distinguished Scholar from the National Communication Association. He hopes to someday appear on a viral YouTube clip and be famous.

`The main strengths of the book are its uniqueness... its mix of emphasis on methods, statistics, and ideas, its commentaries by the authors, and the well-chosen journal articles' - John Harvey, University of Iowa

Reading Research on RelationshipsAttractionLoveSexualityRelationship DevelopmentSocial PowerRelational MaintenanceJealousyConflict in RelationshipsRelationship DisturbanceLonelinessThe Importance of Social NetworksCyber Relationships