Through the research on which this book reports, we have been given the unique opportunity to explore the complex nature of two of the most important issues in the lives of adults: identity and intimacy. It is with deep gratitude that we give credit to the 80 individuals in our sample who allowed us to explore these processes in their lives. Our purpose in writing this book was, in some ways, a modest one. Both of us believed that research on the Eriksonian concept of intimacy was deficient in that it was limited to the reports of individuals about them­ selves. We maintained that this kind of research could provide only a narrow, and probably biased, view of the intimacy development of individ­ uals. By obtaining complementary responses to the intimacy interview from both partners in a marital relationship, we hope to pave a new path that fu ture researchers in this area will follow. Beyond this methodological advance, we intended that this book's theoretical focus could put a new perspective on the well-trodden path of research on marriage. This more ambitious gaal is one that we faced with some trepidation. The literature on marital adjustment and satisfaction is vast and potentially overwhelming.