This volume reviews theory and research on personal relationships among African, Latina/o and Asian Americans as well as personal relationships among other ethnic groups. It focuses on the give and take of affection and respect in personal relationships as influenced by specific cultural values.

Culture, Ethnicity and Personal Relationship Processes reviews new theory and research on personal relationships among African, Latina/o and Asian Americans as well as personal relationships among different ethnic groups. The collection focuses on the give and take of affection and respect in personal relationships as influenced by specific cultural values. Using diverse strands of research from psychology, psychiatry, sociology and other disciplines, the contributors take both a retrospective and a prospective look at ethnicity and the reciprocity of affectionate and respectful behavior. Throughout the book, the reader will be challenged to take stock of common misperceptions currently blocking the way to a greater understanding of relational dynamics as a function of ethnicity. Contributors: Raymond Buriel, James Liu, and Diana Rios.

"This important new book invites relationship researchers to take cultural influences seriously. Gaines' analysis skillfully combines resource exchange theory with new research on cultural value orientations of individualism, collectivism, familism and spiritualism. Included are comprehensive analyses of personal relationships among African American, Latino, Asian American and interethnic couples. Gaines makes a powerful case that to develop models of personal relationships that transcend culture, we must first acknowledge and understand how ethnicity and culture shape close relationships." -- Anne Peplau, Dept. of Psychology, UCLA