Relational Maintenance Theory (Canary & Stafford, 1992; Stafford, 2011; Stafford & Canary, 1991; Stafford, Dainton, & Haas, 2000) explains that there are seven maintenance behaviors (positivity, understanding, assurances, network, sharing tasks/activities, relationship talks, and self-disclosure) that are used to sustain various types of relationships. For friendships, though, start by focusing on these two maintenance behaviors: sharing tasks/activities and self-disclosure.
Friendship
Collegial Connections, Week Two: Meeting Connections
Meetings can be a chance to forge real connections with your colleagues. Renee Bourdeaux explains how.
Collegial Connections, Week One: Hallway Connections
Want to deepen your conversations with academic colleagues? Check out this new series by a communications professor on connecting with colleagues.
Book Review: Spiritual Friendship
Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian by Wesley Hill is an exploration of the place of friendship in the life of the Christian, particularly its importance for those who chose, either because of sexual orientation, or other reasons to live celibate, chaste lives.
“Downstream” Author Interview
Over the past several years via the Emerging Scholars Network I’ve gotten to know David L. O’Hara, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Philosophy and Classics, Augustana College, South Dakota). I particularly appreciate the refreshing manner in which he addresses material on his blog Slowly Percolating Forms. After the release of his new Wipf and Stock publication, […]