ABSTRACT
Not all social relations are positive and involve integrative social bonds. Some are negative and find expression in discordant social interaction. There is animosity and conflict as well as love and friendship. The theory and research in this book have centered attention on cordial social relations that integrate individuals and unite groups in a larger community. The marital relations used to test the implications of the theory, though they are surely not free of conflict, illustrate such basically integrative social bonds. In this last chapter before the concluding summary, we turn briefly to an analysis of negative social interaction and conflict. What structural conditions lead to hostility and conflict? Are some of them the same as those that lead to cordial and intimate social associations? Even if this is the case, what are the distinctive structural features that engender divisive-ness and even violent aggression?
