Power is an inherent feature of social interactions, yet it is hard to define and therefore understand. This book is the first to organize current interdisciplinary theorizing and research about power from leading academics in areas such as social psychology, communications, family studies, and public health. It also focuses exclusively on how power operates and affects close relationship processes, while the theoretical insights provided point the way toward new lines of research and understanding. Using specific examples to illustrate complex theoretical explanations and supplying thorough descriptions of the existing literature on power in close relationships, this book is an essential resource for researchers, professionals, students, or laypeople seeking to better understand how power operates in those relationships that are most important to us.