The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships

The editors and authors address many key conceptual issues throughout the book, including (a) definitions of sexuality, (b) the challenge of constructing dyadic and interactional models of sexuality rather than individual-level models, (c) complexity of sexuality in close relationships, (d) the impact of gender and the issue of whether distinct models of sexuality are needed for males and females, (e) the necessity to integrate race and ethnicity into theoretical models and sexuality research, (f) the importance of taking a developmental approach to individual sexuality and couple sexuality relationships, (g) the need for multiple levels of analysis of the phenomena of sexuality in close relationships, (h) a call for improved research on all aspects of sexuality and especially sex research in close relationships, (i) the need to move away from gender dichotomies to sociosexuality, and (j) the need to examine religions impact on sexuality in close relationships. Throughout these chapters, the reader finds challenges to conduct more qualitative research to explore the meanings couples place on sex, love, commitment, jealousy, and close relationships.