Nine years after the first edition, key scholars in the discipline redefine the field of interpersonal communication with the second edition of the Handbook of Interpersonal Communication. New chapters, which represent areas of central concern today, focus on culture and meaning, supportive communication, and health care.

Part I lays out the key theoretical and methodological issues and the second part focuses on component parts or growth processes, verbal and nonverbal behavior, situational and cultural influences, and the characteristics each communicator brings to an encounter. Part III examines mutual influence and temporal processes and asks the question: What is interpersonal competence? This part also looks at several functions of interpersonal processes such as social support, affect, influence, and power.

The last section examines interpersonal processes in four important and familiar relational contexts: coworkers, physician/patient, families, and other personal/social relationships. Completely revised and updated, the Handbook of Interpersonal Communication, Second Edition is a must for students, scholars, and professionals of communication studies, sociology, and social psychology.