Intimate Relationships: Love, Sexuality, Stressors, and Transitions

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key theoretical models, classifications, and concepts across love theories, human sexuality, interpersonal stressors, and relational transitions.

Intimacy (Triangular Theory of Love)

A foundational component of love marked by warmth, understanding, truth, support, and sharing.

Passion (Triangular Theory of Love)

A component of love characterized by physical attraction, sexual desire, and physiological arousal.

Commitment (Triangular Theory of Love)

A component of love defined by feelings of permanence, stability, and the conscious decision to maintain the relationship.

Liking

high intimacy

low passion

low commitment

Infatuation

high passion

low intimacy

low commitment

Empty Love

high commitment

low passion

low intimacy

Romantic Love

high passion

high intimacy

low commitment

Companionate Love

high intimacy

high commitment

low passion

Fatuous Love

high passion

high commitment

low intimacy

Consummate Love

high levels of all three

Eros

A love style rooted in physical appearance and intense physical attraction, conceptualized as 'love as passion.'

Ludus

A love style characterized by playful, casual, and flirty behavior, conceptualized as 'love as a game.'

Storge

A love style that begins with friendship and develops into affection, conceptualized as 'love as friendship.'

Mania

An erotic and intense love style formed from the combination of eros and ludus.

Pragma

A practical, realistic, and logical love style formed from the combination of ludus and storge.

Agape

A love style characterized by altruistic, selfless love.

Self-Expansion Model

A theoretical framework proposing that maintaining relational passion over time requires partners to engage in novel and innovative experiences together.

Two-Factor Model of Love

A model proposing that love is produced by a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation or thought.

Free Choice (Love Marriages)

A cultural marriage arrangement where individuals independently choose their own partners.

Arranged Marriages

A cultural marriage arrangement in which parents or community elders select the partner for the individual.

Assisted Marriages

A cultural marriage arrangement where parents, elders, or matchmakers suggest a partner, but the individual holds the right to accept or reject the match.

Sociosexual Orientation

Trait-like, stable beliefs and behaviors that characterize an individual's attitudes and practices regarding sex.

Restricted Sociosexual Orientation

An orientation wherein individuals believe sex is only acceptable within a committed, affectionate relationship.

Unrestricted Sociosexual Orientation

An orientation wherein individuals believe it is acceptable to pursue sex without closeness or commitment, showing higher rates of hookups and extradyadic sex.

Pansexual

Being sexually or romantically attracted to an individual regardless of their gender identity or gender expression.

Queer

An umbrella term used to describe anyone identifying as anything other than straight or cisgender.

Autonomy (Self-Determination Theory)

The psychological need to experience personal choice and control over one's own actions.

Competence (Self-Determination Theory)

The psychological need to feel capable, effective, and confident in one's actions.

Relatedness (Self-Determination Theory)

The psychological need to feel close, meaningful connections to others.

Permissiveness with Affection

The cultural norm that premarital sexual activity is broadly acceptable as long as it occurs within a committed or affectionate relationship.

Abstinence-Only Sex Education

Sex education programs that teach abstinence as the sole moral choice; teens in these programs do not delay sexual activity but are less likely to use contraception.

Abstinence-Plus Sex Education

Sex education programs that emphasize abstinence as the preferred choice while still providing instruction on contraception.

Comprehensive Sex Education

Sex education programs that teach safe sex and contraception practices alongside interpersonal skills and communication.

4 D's of Bystander Intervention

An intervention model for responding to sexual coercion comprising Distract, Delegate (asking a neutral third party), Direct (confronting directly), and Delay (checking in on the victim afterward).

Mate Poaching

Behavior explicitly aimed at attracting someone who is already in an established, committed relationship.

Perceived Relational Value

The degree to which an individual believes that another person considers their relationship to be valuable or important.

Maximal Inclusion

The highest level of relational value, where others actively seek out our company and our presence is treated as paramount.

Ambivalent (Relational Value)

A neutral level of relational value where others do not care whether an individual is present or absent.

Maximal Exclusion

The lowest level of relational value, characterized by complete rejection where an individual's presence is treated as a personal affront.

Relational Devaluation

Hurt feelings stemming from an apparent drop in perceived relational value, occurring when someone who previously liked us appears to like us less.

Betrayal

Hurtful actions enacted by a trusted partner that lead to a sudden decrease in perceived relational value, often viewed as less damaging by the perpetrator than by the victim.

Deceiver's Distrust

A cognitive consequence of lying wherein the deceiver begins to perceive their partner as dishonest and untrustworthy to justify their own deception.

Truth Bias

The default assumption among intimate partners that the other person is communicating truthfully and honestly.

Transitions

Periods of discontinuity in relationships that mark significant changes in how partners define their partnership and interact.

Ambiguous Loss

A form of loss lacking clear closure or resolution that disrupts family roles and established patterns of interaction.

Physically Absent but Psychologically Present Loss

A form of ambiguous loss characterized as 'leaving without a goodbye,' where an individual is bodily away but emotionally present in the family system.

Physically Present but Psychologically Absent Loss

A form of ambiguous loss characterized as 'goodbye without leaving,' where an individual is bodily present but emotionally or cognitively unavailable.

Relational Turbulence Theory

A framework explaining how transitions create interpersonal upheaval and instability through relational uncertainty and partner interference.

Self Uncertainty

A dimension of relational uncertainty involving personal doubts regarding one's own goals or commitment within the relationship.

Partner Uncertainty

A dimension of relational uncertainty involving doubts about a partner's motives, goals, or commitment to the relationship.

Relationship Uncertainty

A dimension of relational uncertainty involving doubts about the long-term status, definition, or future of the partnership as a whole.

Partner Interference

An aspect of partner influence occurring when a partner disrupts, complicates, or hinders one's daily routines and personal goals.

Partner Facilitation

An aspect of partner influence occurring when a partner actively assists, coordinates, and smooths one's daily routines and personal goals.

Inertia Theory

A theory proposing that non-binding transitions lead couples to slide into higher commitments because mounting structural constraints make leaving difficult, rather than due to dedicated choice.

Sliding

Entering higher levels of relationship commitment incrementally and non-deliberately without explicit discussion, increasing constraint-based commitment prematurely.

Deciding

Making explicit, intentional decisions about relationship milestones through open discussion before escalating commitment.