Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives [Paperback]

Elaine Hatfield (Author), Richard L. Rapson (Author), Ralph Rapson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1995

Targeting an area of research that has long been dominated by "Western" scientists, Elaine Hatfield and Richard L. Rapson tell a new and updated story of love and sex in the modern world. With the advent of technology that is progressively "shrinking" our global community, the authors aim to assess how intimate relationships are carried out in a wide array of societies. The approach is multidisciplinary and cross-cultural, appealing to students of psychology, anthropology, sociology, history, literature, and art. A strong research base and an appealing narrative style characterize this ideal supplementary text.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Targeting an area of research that has long been dominated by “Western” scientists, Elaine Hatfield and Richard L. Rapson tell a new and updated story of love and sex in the modern world.

About the Author

Elaine Hatfield (B.A. Michigan, Ph.D. Stanford) is Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii. She is well known as the scholar who pioneered the scientific study of passionate and companionate love. She has written many books on her research, among them two books that won the American Psychological Foundation's National Media Award: A New Look at Love and Mirror, Mirror: The Importance of Looks in Everyday Life. For the past two decades she has been generally ranked in citation reviews as the most frequently quoted social psychologist in the world.
Richard L. Rapson(B.A. Amherst, Ph.D. Columbia) is Professor of History at the University of Hawaii. He has written a dozen books of history that focus on the psychological side of American life. He has also collaborated with Elaine Hatfield, his wife on a number of other books, including Emotional Contagion and Love, Sex, and Intimacy: Their Psychology, Biology, and History, as well as several recent novels. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 1 edition (October 19, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205161030
• ISBN-13: 978-0205161034
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scientific analysis of an important topic, August 17, 2000

By 

D. Golden "Human Sexuality educator" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Paperback)

Thanks to many years of hard work and fighting for the right to study love and sex as a scientific topic, Elaine Hatfield has brought us an objective, cross-cultural look at love and sex. Richard Rapson's contribution is to add balance by providing us with the historical perspective. Together these two authors manage to give us a interdisciplinary perspective on love and sex among various cultures. Any serious student of psychology, history, anthropology, sexuality, and many other areas should add this book to their list of books to read!

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is from Cross- Cultural Perspective for a reason!, September 13, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Sacramento CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Paperback)

My comment is more in response to the first persons review of this book. It is called Love and Sex: Cross-cultural perspective for a reason. To learn about the traditions of love and sex from an other cultures perspective. Not just the puritanical ridden minds of some westerners and Christians. When the above reviewer said the author was "somewhat biased against traditional chritstianity" I had to roll my eyes with contempt. Christianity is not the end all tell all for human behavior. I believe that the western culture gives themselves to much credit and likes to pat themselves on the back and sometimes shun other cultures for not living up to their standards of morality. Some may say that the greatest achievement of western culture is Christianity. I disagree, in many ways Christianity has lead to horrific consequences. Murder, war, the opression of women and minorities, and many more to numerous to mention. So, first reviewer of book I hope you keep in mind that there is no right way to live or believe and to open up your mind to different perspectives and to not think with ethnocentrism.

6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good book, but too liberal, August 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It tells about
love and sex from a cross-cultural perspective. However, it mainly emphasizes the initiation and dissolution of relationships, and does not attempt to dissect what actually goes on during them. It is most certainly NOT a self-help book.

I found the book to be biased somewhat against
traditional Christianity. Nevertheless, traditional religion needs to be rethought. Yet it is somewhat unfortunate that those who are so sensitive to other cultures are less sensitive to traditional Western culture.