DISCIPLINES AT PARALLEL PLAY

Comparing relationship researchers to children engaging in parallel pl ay, the author questions the popular impression that the field of pers onal relationships is interdisciplinary. The term 'interdisciplinary' is contrasted with 'multidisciplinary'. Being interdisciplinary requir es researchers to integrate different perspectives on the same problem from more than one discipline. Being multidisciplinary requires only that researchers representing different disciplines be brought togethe r and work on separate problems relevant to their own disciplines. Sca nning a sample of the relationship literature, the author concludes th at the field is more multidisciplinary than interdisciplinary. It is a field that approaches similar problems from different perspectives, b ut rarely integrates disparate work into a cohesive whole. With concre te suggestions, the author encourages relationship researchers from di fferent disciplines to foster closer working relationships with one an other in order to integrate their perspectives.