Guide to interpersonal relationships

Household membership

A family tree displaying the terminology of relationships between relatives.

Household — one or more persons who share main residence, and share meals or living space^[2]

• 
  Single person
  
• 
  Family
  
  • 
    Single parent
    
  • 
    Nuclear family (immediate family)
    
  • 
    Spouse
    
    • 
      Husband
      
    • 
      Wife
      
  • 
    Parent
    
    • 
      Father
      
    • 
      Mother
      
    • 
      Step-father
      
    • 
      Step-mother
      
    • 
      Legal guardian
      
  • 
    Child
    
    • 
      Son
      
    • 
      Daughter
      
    • 
      Step-son
      
    • 
      Step-daughter
      
  • 
    Sibling
    
    • 
      Brother
      
    • 
      Sister
      
• 
  Stepfamily
  
• 
  Extended family
  
  • 
    Grandparent
    
  • 
    Grandfather
    
  • 
    Grandmother
    
  • 
    G randson
    
  • 
    Granddaughter
    
  • 
    Uncle
    
  • 
    Aunt
    
  • 
    Cousin
    
  • 
    Nephew
    
  • 
    Niece
    
• 
  Family-in-law
  
  • 
    Father-in-law
    
  • 
    Mother-in-law
    
  • 
    Brother-in-law
    
  • 
    Sister-in-law
    
• 
  Kinship
  
  • 
    Consanguinity
    
  • 
    Affinity
    
  • 
    Fictive kinship
    
• 
  Relation change
  
  • 
    Marriage
    
  • 
    Adoption
    
  • 
    Relation end
    
    • 
      Breakup
      
    • 
      Divorce
      
    • 
      Disownment
      
    • 
      Emancipation
      
    • 
      Widowhood
      
• 
  Household aspects
  
  • 
    Caregiver
    
  • 
    Gender roles
    
  • 
    Household economics
    
    • 
      Breadwinner model
      

Peer group membership
Peer group

• 
  Special interest group –
  
• 
  Pen pals –
  

Organization membership
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. There are a variety of legal types of organizations, including:

• 
  Corporations –
  
• 
  Governments –
  
• 
  Non-governmental organizations –
  
• 
  International organizations –
  
• 
  Armed forces –
  
• 
  Charitable organizations –
  
• 
  Not-for-profit corporations –
  
• 
  Partnerships –
  
• 
  Cooperatives –
  
• 
  Universities –
  

Community membership
Community

• 
  Citizenship – membership in a country or nation.
  
• 
  Neighbor – member of a neighborhood.
  
• 
  Member of society – a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language, or hierarchical organization.
  

Intimate relationships
Intimate relationship

• 
  Cohabitation — living together without being married.
  
• 
  Committed relationship — interpersonal relationship based upon a mutually agreed-upon commitment to one another involving exclusivity, honesty, trust or some other agreed-upon behavior. The term is most commonly used with informal relationships, such as "going steady," but may encompass any relationship where an expressed commitment is involved.
  
  • 
    Close friendship — being close friends
    
  • 
    Courtship
    
  • 
    Long-term relationship (LT —R)
    
    • 
      Monogamy — having a single long-term sexual partner or marriage to one person.
      
    • 
      Polyamory — having multiple long-term sexual partners.
      
    • 
      Polygamy — marriage to multiple partners.
      
      • 
        Polyandry — the marriage of a woman to multiple men.
        
      • 
        Polygyny — the marriage of a man to multiple women.
        
      • 
        Polygynandry — the marriage of multiple men to multiple women.
        
  • 
    F ree union
    
  • 
    Engagement
    
  • 
    Marriage
    
    • 
      Marriage partners
      
      • 
        Husband
        
      • 
        Wife
        
    • 
      Types of marriage
      
      • 
        Arranged marriage
        
      • 
        Forced marriage
        
      • 
        Cousin marriage
        
      • 
        Open marriage
        
  • 
    Civil union
    
• 
  Domestic partnership
  
• 
  Boyfriend
  
• 
  Girlfriend
  
• 
  Familial relationship — relationship between members of a family. Family members tend to form close personal relationships. See family section above.
  
• 
  Friendship
  
• 
  Extramarital affair
  
• 
  Love–hate relationship
  
• 
  Romantic friendship
  
• 
  Relationship anarchy
  
• 
  Same-sex relationship –-A relationship between two people of same sex.
  
• 
  Casual relationship
  
• 
  Female-led relationship – woman or wife led relationship (FLR)
  

Professional relationships

• 
  Employer-worker relationship –
  

Relations (relationship activities)

• 
  Conflict resolution –
  
• 
  Human bonding –
  
• 
  Interpersonal communication –
  
• 
  Personal relationship skills –
  
• 
  Relationship education –
  
• 
  Social rejection –
  
• 
  Wedding –
  

Relationship formation
Main article: Mating
Human mating is the process whereby an individual seeks out another individual with the intention of forming a long-term intimate relationship or marriage, but sometimes for casual relationship or friendship.

• 
  P ersonal advertisement –
  
• 
  Meet market –
  
• 
  Flirting –
  
  • 
    Pick-up line –
    
• 
  Singles event –
  
• 
  Courtship –
  
  • 
    Dating –
    
    • 
      Internet dating –
      
    • 
      Going Dutch –
      

• 
  Endogamy – the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting all others; in contrast to exogamy.
  
• 
  Hyper gamy – act or practice of seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status, or caste status than oneself;^[3] in contrast to hypo gamy.
  

Dysfunctional relations

• 
  Dysfunctional family –
  
• 
  Relational transgression – violation of implicit or explicit relational rules.
  

Abusive relations
Abuse

• 
  Child abuse
  
• 
  Elder abuse
  
• 
  Dating abuse
  
• 
  Domestic violence
  
• 
  Emotional abuse
  
  • 
    Verbal abuse
    
  • 
    Gaslighting
    
  • 
    Financial abuse
    
• 
  Infidelity — breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity. Also called "cheating".
  
  • 
    Extramarital affair
    
    • 
      Adultery
      
    • 
      Extramarital sex
      
• 
  Neglect
  
• 
  Spousal abuse
  

End of a relationship

• 
  Breaking up –
  
• 
  Divorce –
  
• 
  Legal separation –
  
• 
  Widowhood –
  

Reasons for ending a relationship

• 
  Dysfunctional relations – see Dysfunctional relations section above.
  
• 
  Irreconcilable differences –
  
• 
  Relational transgression – violation of implicit or explicit relational rules.
  

Theories of interpersonal relations

• 
  Socionics – theory of intertype relations^[4] incorporating Carl Jung's work on personality types with Antoni Kępiński's theory of information metabolism.
  
• 
  Attachment theory – describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally.
  
• 
  Social exchange theory – Social exchange theory is a social psychological and sociological perspective that explains social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. Social exchange theory posits that human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives.
  

Relationship characteristics
Aspects of relationships include:

• 
  Attachment in adults –
  
• 
  Attachment in children –
  
• 
  Interpersonal attraction – force acting between two people that tends to draw them together and resist their separation, which leads to friendships and romantic relationships. It is distinct from physical attraction.
  
• 
  New relationship energy (NRE) – state of mind experienced at the beginning of most significant sexual and romantic relationships, typically involving heightened emotional and sexual receptivity and excitement. It begins with the earliest attractions, grows into full force when mutuality is established, and slowly fades over months to years.
  

Stages of a relationship

• 
  Stages presented in George Levinger's relationship model:
  
  1. 
     A cquaintance
     
  2. 
     Buildup
     
  3. 
     Continuation
     
  4. 
     Deterioration
     
  5. 
     Termination
     

Feelings and emotions

• 
  Love
  
  • 
    Familial love
    
  • 
    Parental love
    
  • 
    Marital love
    
  • 
    Brotherly love
    
  • 
    Filial piety
    
  • 
    Veneration
    
• 
  Romance
  
• 
  Infatuation
  
• 
  Intimacy
  
• 
  Jealousy
  
• 
  Limerence
  
• 
  Passion
  
• 
  Platonic love
  
• 
  Psychology of sexual monogamy
  
• 
  Unconditional love
  

Relationship partners
Terms for partners in intimate relationships include:

• 
  Boyfriend/Girlfriend
  
• 
  Confidant or confidante
  
• 
  Family member
  
• 
  Friend or Companion
  
• 
  Life partner/Partner
  
• 
  Spouse
  
• 
  Mistress
  
• 
  Soulmate
  
• 
  Significant other
  

Relationship management

• 
  Bride price –
  
  • 
    Dower –
    
  • 
    Dowry –
    
• 
  Brideservice –
  
• 
  Love contract –
  

Relationship intervention

• 
  Family therapy –
  
• 
  Relationship counseling –
  

Relationship development
Terms for people who want to develop their relationships include:

• 
  People skills –
  
• 
  Communications training –
  
• 
  Emotional intelligence –
  
• 
  Emotional literacy –
  
• 
  Social intelligence –
  
• 
  Social skills –
  
• 
  Socionics
  

Lacking an intimate relationship

• 
  Spinster –
  
• 
  Celibate –