Originally published in 1987, Accounting for Relationships, which brought together work by the leading international scholars in the expanding field of personal relationships research at the time, was the first to concentrate entirely on people's accounting for their relationships. It represented a significant move away from the analysis of personal relationships through events and actions on which research had thus far been concentrated, focusing instead on our explanations, interpretations, understanding and conceptions of our relationships.
The underlying theme which runs through this collection is that we actually create the experience and reality of our relationships by our accounts of them, and the ‘accounting’ concept links together chapters covering a variety of topics and ranging from research reports to theoretical discussions. The editors have divided the book into three sections. The essays in the first section concentrate on the individual's ‘inner world’ and the psychological processes which underlie his or her understanding and knowledge of a relationship. In the second section the focus is on a more public or expressed level, linking accounts to action, communication and social goals. The third section widens the scope still further, dealing with social and historical origins of collective sense-making, and looking at the extent to which the meaning of a relationship is created independently of the individuals concerned.
This collection at once moved the investigation of personal relationships forward by focusing on an aspect which deserved to be given more central importance, and, with respect to social psychology in general, advanced a growing intellectual movement away from individualism towards a relational perspective. Today it can be read in its historical context.