LOVE, INTIMACY,

AND RELATIONSHIP
LOVE – Is a complex phenomenon characterized by an affective and cognitive
inclination to someone and a set of social behaviors geared towards cohesion.

INTIMACY – The psychosocial component of love; knowing and being known by

someone and a deeply personal level; emotional closeness and connection.

PASSION – The emotive and physical component of love; drive towards sexual
and romantic attraction.

COMMITMENT – Decision to engage and maintaining a loving relationship.

RELATIONSHIP – Social bond between and among individuals manifested

through communication and other forms of interaction. This bond may be
biological or determined by social contracts such as social consensus or laws.
Robert Sternberg – A prominent psychologist proposed the triangular Theory of
Love.

LOVE AS A HUMAN EXPERIENCE

> Love is a human experience differently defined and conceptualized.

LOVE AS A CULTURE UNIVERSAL

> is a phenomenon experienced similarly by people time and cultures.
> A universal human emotion that can be expressed in multiple cultural forms.
> This means that humans whether those who lived in the past or who are living
now and regardless of their geographic location and socio-cultural identities,
have experienced love in one way or another.

LOVE AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON

> Social phenomenon are events or experience w/c ensure within our interaction
and relationship with other people.
> The process of giving and receiving information between and among people.
> It is also entail the use of language symbol.
LOVE AS AN EMOTION
> Emotion are psychological responses that we experience particularly in life
event.
> There are basic emotion such as joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger among
others.

LOVE AS AN NEUROBIOLOGICAL EVENT

> Is a complex neurobiological event that involves various processes in the brain.
> From a neurobiological perspective, love can be understood as an infricate
interplay of various brain regions.

NEUROBIOLOGICAL
> A conglomerate of organs (including our brain, our spinal cord, and our nerves
among others) responsible for our ability to process and transmit essential
information among the many organs in our body.

THEORIZING LOVE
> Love is a rather complex idea, w/c can be described, defined and
experienced in myriad of ways, several theories and framework offer diverse
perspective on how it can be understood and explained.
PSYCHODYNAMIC VIEW ON LOVE
> Is a collective term, w/c pertains to the psychoanalytic tradition forwarded by
Sigmund Freud (a viennese neurologist), as well the succeeding theories that support
redefine or refute his proposition.

SIGMUD FREUD
> An Australian neurologist born in 1856, is often referred to as the “Father of modern
psychology”.
> Psychodynamic theory posit that we have desire and motives fueled by our life (Eros)
and death (Thanatos) instincts.
> Love can be seen as a manifestation of our eros and the placement of our libido (life
energy) unto an object (a thing or a person towards who transfer our psychic energies to
ease pain or achieve pleasure).

COLOR WHEEL OF LOVE

> John Alan Lee (1973)- A Canadian psychologist, suggested that their are different types
of love.

PRIMARI TYPES OF LOVE ARE THE;

- Eros (sexual and romantic)
- philia (Friendly)
- Storage (parental/filial love)
SECONDARY TYPES OF LOVE ARE THE;
- Pragma (Practical love)
- Agape (universal love)
- Philaufia (self love)

- It is impossible for us to experience not just one but two or more of these types
of love in our lifetime.

TRIANGULAR MODEL OF LOVE

- One of the most popular theories of love is the triangular model by Sternberg a
psychologist.
- According to Sternberg (1986) love has three interlocking dimension the
position, intimacy and commitment.

1. Passion- The physical emotional aspect

2. Intimacy- The psychological/relational aspect
3. Commitment- The agency component, that is the choice we make with regards
to engaging and maintaining the loving relationship.
ROMANTIC AND COMPATIONATE LOVE
> Hatfield and Rapson (1978, 1993), on the other hand, suggest
that there are two general types of love

1. ROMANTIC LOVE
> Is characterized by intense passion “a state of intense longing
for union with your partner”.

2. COMPATIONATE LOVE
> Is characterized by intense intimacy- emotional closeness which
is also characterized of liking.
LOVE LANGUAGE
> Chapman (1995) posited that there are generally five love language namely,
words of affirmation, touch, time, gift, and act of service.

1. Words of affirmation
> Tend to verbally express their thoughts and feelings of love towards the people
they love. They may be comfortable saying “I love you” and articular other words
of endearment.

2. Touch
> Express love non-verbally through hugs, kisses, or simply a tap on the back.

3. Time
> Tend to value quality moments with their loved ones.

4. Gifts
> Want to show and receives affection through material object.

5. Act of service
> Willing to serve the other person by helping her or him in things that they do.
LOVE AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP
> According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, has been widely quoted
as referring to human as a social animals. This means that we survive,
thrive, and flourish when we are together such that relating to other
humans is not only a sentimental, but also an evolutionary and a
practical process.

ACQUANTANCE
> Intimate human relationship start in acquaintanceship.
> Crucial at stage is attraction.

WHAT IS ATTRACTION
> Attraction can take place in enabling environment. It can happen when
there is propinquity or proximity- when we are closer to one another.
> It can happened when there is exposure- are repeated possibilities of
interaction.
> It can happened where there is similarly- common preference,
interest, and belief and values.
BUILDUP
> Some acquaintanceship build up into deeper relationship. Frequency of
interaction.
> This is the stage when two person test their boundaries.

CONSOLIDATION AND CONTINUATION

> The third stage of intimate relationship is consolidation
> This stage is when people commits to a long term relationship w/ one
another, either through personal agreement (exclusivity partnership,
domestic partnership) or social agreement (marriage).

DECLINE OR DETERIORATION
> Some intimate partnership are unable to sustain and maintain their
commitment or attraction.
INFEDILITY
> The breech of loyalty and promises as agreed upon by both
individuals (i.e presence of a third-party, extra-martial affairs).

IRRECONCILABLE
> W/c already harming each individuals and the partnership as
a whole.

ENDING
> Finally, for those intimate partnerships who are unable to
address the causes and circumstances leading to the
deterioration of their relationship, the stages culminate into
ending or termination of the agreements made (either personal
or socio-legal) through informal (e.g., collective decision to
end the relationship) or formal (e.g., marriage dissolution)
means.