A Happy Relationship Is No Accident – The 7 Types of Love!
The classic vision of romance involves the unity of two people falling in love, starting a family and having children. But love does not have only one face, there is more than one kind of love and in your life you will probably encounter some variation. It's good to have an idea of what these are so you can identify them. In this article, you'll learn about the seven types of love and that there’s only one that lasts a lifetime. You'll find out by the end.
When it comes to the topic of love, not everything is black and white, because it's not just about loving and not loving. There are different ways of loving. In 1961, psychologist Robert Sternberg published a concept about the different ways of loving. He explained a kind of triangular theory of love. What does the triangle theory of love mean? Robert Sternberg assumes that the relationship one has with a partner can change over time. The relationship can start with an overwhelming passion and yet lose intensity after a few months. The three main ingredients of love are: Intimacy, Commitment and Passion. According to the theory, relationships can have a combination of these three characteristics or all three. However, a lived love that comes from only one of the three characteristics is unlikely to last forever. By playing with the different combinations of characteristics, we discover what the seven types of love are. We’ll now go into these seven forms of love in detail.
1. Friendship.
Friendship feelings typify two people who feel only platonically for each other. Emotional intimacy here is the only characteristic of love that friends share. If no other ingredients are added, the relationship remains in the friendship stage. Friends love each other, but they do not feel a blazing fire for each other, that is, passion. Furthermore, friends are much more independent of each other, meaning that no life decisions are made that necessarily bind them to each other for the rest of their lives. However, it is interesting to note that many people have already become lovers, even though they were initially just friends. Sometimes the friendship even lasted for several years before it turned into love.
2. Infatuation.
The characteristic that defines this love is passion. These couples do not have emotional intimacy, so they do not really know each other and or share each other’s joys and fears. Moreover, people in infatution do not cherish long-term projects with each other. However: in the initial phase, it is very common to say "love is blind" or "love at first sight". There is a great desire to be with the other person and there are usually very intense physical and sexual encounters. But this usually disappears quickly and it is not enough to build a relationship.
3. Empty love.
Empty love comes without intimacy and without passion. This love knows only one feeling, which is the feeling of commitment. No one desires this kind of love, because it is rather a kind of chore instead of fulfilling devotion. This relationship happens frequently, such as when marriages of convenience are made, or when a couple who have been living together for several years still intend to stay together without any passionate feelings being involved. This usually happens at the end of some relationships, when there is nothing left, but people stay together out of routine, because of the children, or out of respect for the other person.
4. Romantic love.
Romantic love is a combination of passion and intimacy. Couples love each other sincerely, moreover, they share many things in everyday life, but do not make plans for the future. Intimacy and passion meet each other. Since these two components are very different, it occurs at the beginning of most relationships and involves the desire to be with each other, to be alone with each other, to begin to trust, to feel affection and attraction without any commitment yet. This type of love can be the precursor to a lasting relationship when commitment is added over time. It can also exist in isolation, among couples who have loving and passionate encounters but do not want to make a commitment.
5. High-contact love.
This type of relationship includes the characteristics of intimacy and commitment. The characteristic that is missing here is clearly passion. But where has this gone? It is often the case that the passion simply disappears as the relationship goes on, especially in long-term relationships. Sad, but true. There is affection and the decision to be together, which can happen in long marriages where the passion has ended but the connection, trust, affection and respect between them continues.
6. Fatal love or crazy love.
This is the combination of commitment and passion. What this love lacks is intimacy, as the couples do not open up to each other and are not attracted to each other. They may be long-time lovers, but they usually do not live together or share other activities.
7. Perfect love.
This love is the ideal that all couples strive for, as it combines intimacy, passion and commitment. According to the psychologist, it is not difficult to reach this stage. Rather, the difficulty would be to maintain the stage of perfect love. But why is this so? Unfortunately, it is common for a long-term relationship to lose passion and fire over time. That is why perfect love is also called perfected love, or Complete Love in capital letters. The ideal in which the three ingredients meet. The proportions of each ingredient may vary over the course of the relationship, but they are always there. There is great affection, physical and mental attraction, and the decision to stay together. As in any relationship, there can be ups and downs, but the decision to stay together makes the couple work to cultivate these ingredients. This kind of love is the only kind that lasts a lifetime.
Today’s Conclusion:
It is important to know that a couple relationship based on only one of the components would eventually dissolve because they are not enough in themselves. So what can you do with this knowledge? Since we have seen the three ingredients and their different combinations you might now know what kind of love you have with your partner and if there have been any changes in your relationship over time. In recipe language, it is important that you mature the ingredients that are already present so that they are not lost over time. And with that, the recipe for love is ready. Now all that's left is to bring it all together. That's it for today.