Angry Hugs and Withheld Love: An Overview of Deceptive Affection

Though deception and affection are important messages to study on their own, what happens when they are combined in relationships? This chapter reviews research addressing these situations, termed deceptive affection. This occurs when a person expresses affection he or she is not genuinely or fully feeling at the moment, or when a person withholds expressing felt affection. This chapter overviews the process and reviews research exploring deceptive affection as maintenance along with potential risks. Recent applications to safer sex are discussed, along with potential theoretical explanations for how and why deceptive affection occurs. Given that this area of study is young, ideas for future research conclude this chapter.