Concept Of Intimacy Research Articles

Male Friendship and Intimacy

Our primary focus is the concept of intimacy, especially in the context of adult American male relationships. We begin with an examination of comradeship, a nonintimate form of friendship, then develop an account of the nature and value of intimacy in friendship. We follow this with discussions of obstacles to intimacy and of Aristotle's views. In the final section, we discuss the process of men attaining intimacy.

Sexual health promotion for men who have sex with other men

The challenge in developing effective campus health-promotion strategies for men who have sex with other men is to provide clear information, opportunities for skill building, enhancement of self-esteem, and community support to a fragmented, diverse, largely invisible audience of stigmatized men who may not identify themselves as needing the interventions, who are frequently targets of prejudice and violence, and about whose concepts of intimacy and sexual behavior relatively little is known.

Prototypes of Intimacy and Distance in Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Relationships

Differences between men's and women's conceptions of intimacy and distance may be a source of misunderstanding and conflict in close relationships. Although there is already an extensive literature on sex differences in intimacy, the meaning of the findings is somewhat unclear because each set of authors adopts a unique operational definition of intimacy. Often, this definition has been affected by the tendency to equate intimacy with self-disclosure. Distance (the opposite of intimacy, if intimacy is conceptualized as closeness) has been left largely unexplored in previous research and its relation to intimacy is unclear. In the present study, the components of intimacy and distance were delineated by asking men and women to describe an intimate and a distant experience with a member of the opposite sex and a member of the same sex. Prototypes were constructed by submitting the features mentioned in each kind of experience to hierarchical cluster analysis. The results revealed more similarities than differences between men's and women's conceptions of intimacy and distance. A conceptualization of intimacy emerged with a focus on appreciation and affection rather than self-disclosure. Distance appeared to revolve around dissatisfaction with and disapproval of the partner. Analyses of variance on specific features revealed sex differences and relationship differences that were consistent with previous research. Sex differences in the description of distance reflected the status or power differential between men and women.

Development of Intimacy in Young Adults, a Multidimensional View

50 female and 37 male adult college students responded to an interview, which permitted subjects to be categorized according to their style of coping with the intimacy crisis of young adulthood. The five categories are intimate, preintimate, pseudointimate, stereotyped relationships, and isolate. Subjects in the five statuses were compared on their levels of emotional, physical and intellectual intimacy as measured by the Holt Intimacy Development Inventory. Women who had achieved depth and commitment in their relationships scored higher on emotional and intellectual intimacy than women whose relationships were uncommitted and superficial. Women in deep and committed relationships were also older than women in uncommitted, superficial relationships, while men in committed relationships were older than uncommitted men, regardless of depth. Results were interpreted as supporting Erikson's concept of intimacy, i.e., that relationships combining depth and commitment are the most mature.

Concepts of intimacy in the general population.

A random sample of 50 adults in the general population received an open ended interview regarding their concepts of intimacy. A second random sample of 24 couples from the general population and 24 clinical couples received a standardized interview in which concepts of intimacy were systematically rated to develop an operational definition of the dimensions of intimacy. Self-disclosure was identified as a fundamental aspect of intimacy in interpersonal relationships and marriage. Expression of affection, compatibility, cohesion, identity, and the ability to resolve conflict were also considered important aspects of intimacy. Sexual satisfaction was considered less important than previous definitions of intimacy have suggested. The perception of his or her parents' level of intimacy was thought to influence the subject's own interpersonal relationships. Couples with marital maladjustment and/or psychiatric illness were less aware of aspects of their marriage which influence intimacy. They more frequently disagreed that sexuality influenced their level of intimacy. The study suggests that self-disclosure and parental interpersonal intimacy may be fundamental factors in marital adjustment which merit further research.

Intimacy and Crises in Adulthood

Even though interpersonal intimacy has been proposed as a vital developmental task in the achievement of adulthood (Erikson, 1963) there has been little systematic study of intimate relationships as a psychological resource in transactions and crises of the adult life course, including those resulting from sociohistorical change. Both the high degree of complexity and relativity of the concept of intimacy, as well as the American male's traditional flight from intimacy, contribute to its lack of exploration. It is the thesis of this article that in the absence of overwhelming external challenge, most individuals find the motivation to live autonomous and satisfying lives only through one or more mutually intimate dyadic relationships. Some preliminary evidence in support of this thesis is presented showing marked life stage and sex differences. In addition a theoretical framework for the study of psychosocial change in adulthood focusing on areas of commitment, juxtaposed with some evidence, suggests a more flexible life stage theory than that proposed by Erikson (1963). The implications of intimacy as a resource are discussed for two adult risk groups: middle-aged women in the post-paternal stage of life and middle-aged men who are "overwhelmed" by life stresses.

Eye-contact and depression: a preliminary report.

Riemer (1955) has argued that gaze is an ‘expression of affect’ between individuals. Kendon (1967) writes that the direction of gaze has a regulatory and expressive function, and ‘fluctuations in the amount of eye-contact during the course of one conversation showed that it was inversely related to the amount of emotionality displayed by the participants'. Also that it has a regulatory function which governs the pattern of social interaction. Argyle and Dean (1965) made similar observations in their concept of intimacy. They postulate that there is an Intimacy Equilibrium; Intimacy is a function of eye-contact, physical proximity, intimacy of topic, amount of smiling etc. They have shown that an alteration in one variable produces a change in the others until an equilibrium is reached. Exline et al. (1965, 1966, 1967) have described other aspects of eye-contact in relation to sex, dependency, social reinforcement, affiliative needs and affective relations. These findings support those of Kendon and Argyle.