It is important to examine close relationships because they play a pivotal role in individuals' growth, development, and well-being. This article presents a novel approach that incorporates individual-dyad hierarchical perspectives from social psychology with the temporal perspectives of developmental psychology. Research on adult attachment shows that there are missing links between developmental and social psychological studies of close relationships. This review explores the possibility of an integrative approach, based on temporal perspectives that investigate the developmental course of attachment style, and hierarchical perspectives which examine the processes involved in dyadic relationships at both individual and dyad levels including structure of interaction and shared relational efficacy. Longitudinal data analyses (cross-lagged model and latent growth curve model) and dyadic data analyses (pairwise correlation analysis, common fate model, and multilevel structural equation modeling) are reviewed to illuminate empirical research methods and data correction issues. Future studies on close relationships require consideration of both developmental and social psychological perspectives.

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This review concerned intimacy in marital relationships from the perspectives of commitment and affection. In addition, it examined changes in intimacy through life events including child rearing, divorce, individualization, and retirement, and differences in consciousness of these events between wives and husbands. The results indicate that Japanese marital couples sometimes sacrifice intimacy to maintain the family, that marriage is based not only on intimacy but also on functionality and social relationships, and that intimacy in marital relationships is different from intimacy in romantic relationships. The following issues should be considered in future research. First, because marriage can be of long duration it is problematic to compare age groups, with the exception of measures of marital satisfaction. Therefore, life stages should be considered when examining changes in intimacy. Second, short-term longitudinal studies centered on life events should be carried out. Finally, because marital relationships are affected by one's culture, society, social system, values, and gender roles, these factors should also be considered in studies on marital relations.

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This paper considered the relationship between several aspects of intimacy and dating violence in terms of various theories, rebutted myths concerning dating violence, and clarified areas for further study. Theories of intimacy indicate that violence is a manifestation of excessive absorption in the current relationship and relationships with parents in early life, and that these characteristics presaged a high likelihood of the use of violence as a conflict tactic. Common myths about dating violence, e.g., “women are victims,” “love and violence are at opposite poles,” and “physical violence is the worst form of violence,” are all false. The literature suggests that one may more accurately state that “violence is often mutual,” “love potentially can be a cause of violence,” and “psychological violence tends to last longer and result in greater damage than other forms of violence.”Based on these considerations, this article proposes the need for research on the effectiveness of education concerning conflict tactics to prevent dating violence, and research on dating violence from lifespan and sociocultural perspectives.

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The purpose of this study was to explore conditions under which university students with autistic characteristics experience alexithymia, through content analysis of their subjective emotional experiences. Twenty university students completed questionnaires including the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the 22-item Tronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and were interviewed about their own subjective emotional experiences. The interview data were analyzed through content analysis. Results showed a correlation between autistic characteristics as assessed by the AQ and “the amount of feeling words” relevant to alexithymia. Content analysis data were subjected to multidimensional scaling for a more detailed examination of their features. The results indicated two patterns of relational isolation. The first was ambiguous or missing verbal expressions related to one's feelings. The second was insufficient verbal illustration of interpersonal relationships. These features have seldom been highlighted in research on autism spectrum disorders.

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The precise visual perception of self-movement is essential for locomotion and postural control. In the second half of the first year, infants become highly responsive to peripheral lamellar optic flow (PLOF) specifying self-movement. Past studies on infant responsiveness to PLOF have only contrasted postural responses to optic flow patterns differing in overall direction of movement, e.g., horizontal vs. downward movement. This study investigated whether infants show differential responses to PLOF specifying different degrees of downward movement. Twenty-seven 9-month-olds were presented with PLOF specifying 30° descent, 10° descent, and horizontal forward movement in a virtual moving room. The infants showed degree-appropriate postural responses to each of the three conditions, as well as elevated cardiac accelerations to 30° descent. These results show that infant reactions to optic flow are highly attuned to the specific direction of the perceived movement.

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The present study explored the relationships between coping with menopausal symptoms and psychological adjustment. Middle-aged women（N＝431, 40–60 years old）were asked about their menstrual status, menopausal symptoms, their coping with the symptoms, subjective well-being and life satisfaction. Based on their reported menstrual status, 395 participants were divided into three groups (pre-menopause, peri-menopause, and post-menopause). The main results were as follows. Factor analysis of data for coping with symptoms produced 6 dimensions: acceptance of bodily change, positive care of one's body, positive thinking, prioritizing of activities, changes in thinking, and talking with someone about symptoms. Lower menopausal symptoms and positive care of one's body had positive effects on subjective well-being. Among peri-menopausal women with severe symptoms, acceptance of their bodily changes was related to higher psychological well-being. For post-menopausal women, prioritizing of activities was related to subjective well-being, regardless of symptoms. These results indicate that effective coping is influenced by women's menopausal symptoms and menopausal status.

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This study investigated the relationship between experiences of bullying and victimization with the traits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in nursery school, elementary school, and junior high school children in one Japanese city. The parents of 8,396 toddlers and 1_st–9_th grade youngsters completed questionnaires. They assessed their children's ASD and ADHD traits and various forms of bullying and victimization experienced by their children during the past year. Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that both ASD and ADHD traits were associated with all forms of bullying and victimization. Controlling for the effects of other independent variables, ASD traits were associated with all forms of victimization, whereas ADHD traits were associated with all forms of bullying and victimization except physical victimization. In addition, ASD traits indicated more potent effects on victimization than ADHD traits. Finally, ASD and ADHD traits differed in interaction effects for grade and gender.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of vocational identity transformation in 23 MBA graduates from a business school in Japan, and to examine the coexistence between workers and organizations. Qualitative analysis using the trajectory equifinality approach (TEA) from the viewpoint of situated learning theory indicated that there were five developmental stages of vocational identity: (1) emerging and settlement, (2) enhancement or stagnation, (3) release, (4) expansion, and (5) creation. In each stage, a person has a different view of work, and workers' belief in the value of their work changes during the expansion stage. Vocational identity starts as being characterized by organizational culture, and transforms into one that is characterized by social scientists as lifelong learning. The results suggest that coexistence between workers and organizations is feasible if the following two issues for workers are settled: (1) development of a boundary trajectory into the business school, with workers' learning beyond official job training, and (2) development of a cross-boundary trajectory between business schools and organizations for the most use of social science, when encouraged as a legitimate practice of organizational membership.

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The purpose of the present study was to clarify relations between children's listening and their utterances. Four discussion sessions in a third grade class were observed, and immediate recall tasks measured children's biases in listening. A My-side bias (MB) index was calculated for each session, and was derived by subtracting the number of other-side arguments recalled from the number of my-side arguments recalled. Categorical analysis revealed the following: (1) MB index scores were negatively correlated with rebuttal utterances, which provided reasons for my-side arguments and also replies to other-side counterarguments; (2) children who had high MB index scores reworded other children's supportive arguments more than did children with low MB index; and (3) children with low MB index scores questioned the opposing position more than did children with high MB index. These results suggest that children's bias in listening relates to their utterances, and that it is important to encourage children to listen to other-side utterances, which enhances their rebuttals and replies to other-side counterarguments.

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