Human Growth and Development / Unit 12 HGD 1697 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love
The idea
Robert Sternberg's triangular theory holds that love has three components. Intimacy is closeness, caring and emotional support. Passion is physiological and emotional arousal, including physical attraction. Commitment is the decision to maintain the relationship over time. Combinations produce different kinds of love: intimacy alone is liking, intimacy with commitment but little passion is companionate love, and all three together make consummate love.
In practice
A couple married thirty years, best friends and deeply committed though the early spark has faded: companionate love.
Where people slip
Consummate love is often seen in Western cultures as the ideal, and fulfilling young adult relationships combine all three components. Exam items describe a relationship and ask which components are present: closeness without attraction points to liking, attraction alone to infatuation, commitment alone to empty love.
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