Three Fundamental Aspects of Romantic Love

What do people really mean when they talk about love?

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Key points

• Romantic love is of great importance, yet needs to be better understood.
• While psychological theories and popular notions of love overlap, empirical research is less robust.
• A recent study finds three elements of romantic love: responsiveness, connection, and stability.
• Ongoing work is needed to further delineate romantic love, what makes it successful, and what gets in the way.

Love, they say, is a many-splendored thing. However, love is hard to define, and that’s equally true for researchers as for the lay public. Aside from varying culturally, 1psychological theories of romantic love abound, as described by Chen, Xia, and Dunne (2024) in their work on how everyday folks define amore.

Love, Theoretically

Some models of love, they note, emphasize aspects of friendship and sexual attraction; others focus on closeness and affection over passion, which tends to fade over time and be supplanted by a mellower “afterglow” for long-term partners. Sternberg’s widely cited model, for instance, highlights the interrelated role of passion, intimacy, and commitment; other models posit…