Intimate relationship

The introduction of empirical investigations in 1898 was a major revolution in social analysis.[23] A study conducted by Monroe examined the traits and habits of children in selecting a friend. Some of the attributes included in the study were kindness, cheerfulness, and honesty.[5] Monroe asked 2336 children aged 7 to 16 to identify "what kind of chum do you like best?" The results of the study indicated that children preferred a friend who was their own age, of the same sex, of the same physical size, with light features (hair and eyes), who did not engage in conflict, who was kind to animals and humans, and who was honest. Two characteristics that children reported as least important included wealth and religion.[5]

That study was the first to mark the significant shift in the study of intimate relationships from analysis that was primarily philosophical to those with empirical validity.[5] It marked the beginning of relationship science.[5] In the years following Monroe's study, few similar studies were done. There were limited studies done on children's friendships, courtship and marriages, and families in the 1930s but few relationship studies were conducted before or during World War II.[23] Intimate relationships did not become a broad focus of research again until the 1960s and 1970s when many relationship studies were published.[5]

Personal intimate relationships may be crowned with marriage.

The study of intimate relationships uses participants from diverse groups and examines topics that include family relations, friendships, and romantic relationships, usually over a long period.[5] Studies include both positive and negative or unpleasant aspects of relationships.

John Gottman and his colleagues invited married couples into a pleasant setting, and asked them to revisit the disagreement that caused their last argument. Although the participants were aware that they were being videotaped, they soon become so absorbed in their own interaction that they forgot they were being recorded. With the second-by-second analysis of observable reactions as well as emotional ones, Gottman can predict with 93% accuracy the fate of the couples' relationship.[24]

Terri Orbuch and Joseph Veroff monitored newlywed couples using self-reports over a long period (a longitudinal study). Participants were required to provide extensive reports about the natures and the statuses of their relationships. Although many of the marriages ended since the beginning of the study, this type of relationship study allows researchers to track marriages from start to finish by conducting follow-up interviews with the participants in order to determine which factors are associated with marriages that last and which with those that do not. Though the field of relationship science is still relatively young, research conducted by researchers from different disciplines continues to broaden the field.[25]

Evidence points to contextual factors that can impact intimate relationships. In a study on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on marital and partner relationships, researchers found that while many reported negative changes in their relationships, a number also experienced positive changes. Environmental stressors (for example, unemployment, prolonged separation) negatively impacted intimate relationships for many couples, though other couples' relationships grew stronger as a result of new employment opportunities, a greater sense of perspective, and higher levels of communication and support.[26] As a result, environmental factors are understood to contribute to the strength of intimate relationships.

A Northwestern University research team summarized the literature in 2013, finding that "negative-affect reciprocity" – retaliatory negativity between partners during a conflict – is arguably the most robust predictor of poor marital quality. However, this degradation can be softened (according to their 120 heterosexual couple Chicago sample) by undertaking a reappraisal writing task every four months.[27]

One study suggests that married straight couples and cohabiting gay and lesbian couples in long-term intimate relationships may pick up each other's unhealthy habits. The study reports three distinct findings showing how unhealthy habits are promoted in long-term intimate relationships: through the direct bad influence of one partner, through synchronicity of health habits, and through the notion of personal responsibility.[28]

Men kissing intimately.

Some research indicates that pornography is a possible source of education about sex and relationships. In the absence of inclusive same-sex relationship education in traditional sources (i.e., schools, parents, friends, and mainstream media), gay pornography may be used by men who have sex with men as a source of information about intimacy, while serving its main purpose as a masturbatory aid.[29] A 2020 study indicated that gay pornography depicts both physical (kissing, cuddling, affectionate touch, and genital touch before and after sex) and verbal intimacy (compliments, personal disclosure, and expressions of care). Most forms of physical and verbal intimacy occurred before or during sex, with intimacy being least evident post-sex.[30]

Over 2,300 years ago, Aristotle examined interpersonal relationships.[31] He wrote: "One person is a friend to another if he is friendly to the other and the other is friendly to him in return"[32] Aristotle believed that by nature humans are social beings.[33] He proposed that there are three varieties of relationships: those based on utility, on pleasure, and on virtue.[34] People are attracted to relationships that provide utility because of the assistance and sense of belonging that they provide. In relationships based on pleasure, people are attracted to the feelings of pleasantness when the parties engage. However, relationships based on utility and pleasure may be short-lived if the benefits provided by one of the partners are not reciprocated.[34] Relationships based on virtue are built on an attraction to each other's virtuous character.[34]

Aristotle also suggested that relationships based on virtue would be the longest lasting and that virtue-based relationships were the only type of relationship in which each partner was liked for themselves.[34] The philosophical analysis used by Aristotle dominated the analysis of intimate relationships until the late 1880s.[23]

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and his wife Teresa Cristina in Petrópolis, 1887

Modern psychology and sociology began to emerge in the late 19th century. During this time theorists often examined relationships in the course of their research.[23] Freud wrote about parent–child relationships and their effect on personality development.[6] He proposed that people's childhood experiences are transferred or passed on into adult relationships by means of feelings and expectations.[23] Freud also founded the idea that individuals usually seek out marital partners who are similar to their opposite-sex parent.[23]

In 1891, William James wrote that a person's self-concept is defined by the relationships endured with others.[6] In 1897, Émile Durkheim's interest in social organization led to the examination of social isolation and alienation.[6] Durkheim argued that being socially isolated was a key antecedent of suicide.[6] The darker side of relationships and the negative consequences associated with social isolation were what Durkheim labeled as anomie.[23] Georg Simmel wrote about dyads, or partnerships with two people.[5] He suggested that dyads require consent and engagement of both partners to maintain the relationship but noted that the relationship can be ended by the initiation of only one partner.[23] Although the theorists mentioned above sought support for their theories, their primary contributions to the study of intimate relationships were conceptual and not empirically grounded.[5]

An important shift took place in the field of social psychology that influenced the research of intimate relationships. Until the late 1950s, the majority of studies were non-experimental.[23] By the end of the 1960s more than half of the articles published involved some sort of experimental study.[23] The 1960s were also a time when there was a shift in methodology within the psychological discipline. Participants consisted mostly of college students, experimental methods and research were being conducted in laboratories, and the experimental method was the dominant methodology in social psychology.[23] Experimental manipulation within the research of intimate relationships demonstrated that relationships could be studied scientifically.[5] This shift brought relationship science to the attention of scholars in other disciplines and resulted in the study of intimate relationships being an international multidiscipline.[5]

In the early 1980s the first conference of the International Network of Personal Relationships (INPR) was held. Approximately 300 researchers from all over the world attended the conference.[23] In March 1984, the first Journal of Social and Personal Relationships was published.[23] In the early 1990s the INPR split off into two groups; in April 2004 the two organizations rejoined and became the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR).[5]

Donald Nathanson, a psychiatrist who built his study of human interactions off of the work of Silvan Tomkins, argues that an intimate relationship between two individuals is best when the couple agrees to maximize positive affect, minimize negative affect and allow for the free expression of affect. These findings were based on Tomkin's blueprint for emotional health, which also emphasizes doing as much of the maximizing, minimizing, and expressing as possible.[35]

In 1993, Match.com was the first dating-facilitation website to launch. A high correlation existed between those that are computer literate and a tendency to attempt online dating, due to the new development of the internet.[36] In 2004, Guinness World Records called Match.com the largest dating site in the world, citing more than 42 million people having signed up for its services.[37]

In 2016, there were an estimated 240 million dating app users; as of 2021 that number rose to around 323 million users worldwide, with the Covid 19 pandemic as a contributor.[38] Even though there has been rapid growth of users, there have been many reports of negative effects of dating apps. The intention of dating app usage varies between each individual.[39] For example, a study of Grindr users detected their reasons for using that dating site. The final report concluded that 67.2% of users were interested in finding a dating companion while 62.1% of users desired casual sex.[40] The risk for sexually transmitted disease increases significantly for individuals who participate in casual sex.[41] A sexual assault researcher from the Associate Dean of Brigham Young University College of Nursing notes that there were around 2,000 reported sexual assaults from dating apps over the course of three years.[42] Many of those cases were due to catfishing, which is when one party pretends to be someone else.[43] Studies to determine the effects of online dating on mental health found that there is an increase of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem in users.[44] Regardless of the negative outcomes, the convenience of dating apps suggests that they are here to stay.[39]