Summary Outline
Friday, 14 March, 2025 9:51 PM
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
• Overview: Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love posits that love comprises three fundamental
components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. The varying combinations of these
components result in different types of love, providing a comprehensive framework for
understanding romantic relationships.
• Love:
○ Components:
▪ Intimacy: Feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness in a loving
relationship.
▪ Passion: The drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, sexual
consummation, and related phenomena in loving relationships.
▪ Commitment: The decision that one loves a certain other, and the commitment to
maintain that love.
○ Types of Love (based on component combinations):
▪ Liking: Intimacy only
▪ Infatuation: Passion only
▪ Empty Love: Commitment only
▪ Romantic Love: Intimacy + Passion
▪ Companionate Love: Intimacy + Commitment
▪ Fatuous Love: Passion + Commitment
▪ Consummate Love: Intimacy + Passion + Commitment (considered the ideal form
of love)
Relationship Growth
• Overview: Relationship growth refers to the dynamic process through which interpersonal
connections evolve and strengthen over time. It involves the development of deeper
understanding, increased intimacy, and a greater reliance on each other, typically
characterized by the topics below.
• Interdependence:
○ Describes the mutual reliance between partners.
○ Actions, thoughts, and feelings of each person affect the other.
○ Increased interdependence is a key feature of relational growth.
• Self-Disclosure:
○ Sharing personal information, thoughts, and feelings.
○ Increases intimacy and understanding.
○ Requires trust and vulnerability.
• Trust:
○ Belief in the reliability, integrity, and honesty of the other person.
○ Essential for deepening a relationship.
○ Built through consistent behaviour and fulfilled promises.
Social Exchange Theory
• Overview: Social Exchange Theory suggests that social interactions involve an exchange of
resources, where individuals assess the benefits and costs to determine the value and
continuation of a relationship. People aim to maximize rewards (benefits) and minimize costs
in their interactions.
• Benefits and Costs:
○ Benefits: Rewards or positive outcomes received in a social exchange, such as
companionship, support, love, or material goods.
Lecture 4 Page 1
Friday, 14 March, 2025 9:51 PM
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
• Overview: Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love posits that love comprises three fundamental
components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. The varying combinations of these
components result in different types of love, providing a comprehensive framework for
understanding romantic relationships.
• Love:
○ Components:
▪ Intimacy: Feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness in a loving
relationship.
▪ Passion: The drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, sexual
consummation, and related phenomena in loving relationships.
▪ Commitment: The decision that one loves a certain other, and the commitment to
maintain that love.
○ Types of Love (based on component combinations):
▪ Liking: Intimacy only
▪ Infatuation: Passion only
▪ Empty Love: Commitment only
▪ Romantic Love: Intimacy + Passion
▪ Companionate Love: Intimacy + Commitment
▪ Fatuous Love: Passion + Commitment
▪ Consummate Love: Intimacy + Passion + Commitment (considered the ideal form
of love)
Relationship Growth
• Overview: Relationship growth refers to the dynamic process through which interpersonal
connections evolve and strengthen over time. It involves the development of deeper
understanding, increased intimacy, and a greater reliance on each other, typically
characterized by the topics below.
• Interdependence:
○ Describes the mutual reliance between partners.
○ Actions, thoughts, and feelings of each person affect the other.
○ Increased interdependence is a key feature of relational growth.
• Self-Disclosure:
○ Sharing personal information, thoughts, and feelings.
○ Increases intimacy and understanding.
○ Requires trust and vulnerability.
• Trust:
○ Belief in the reliability, integrity, and honesty of the other person.
○ Essential for deepening a relationship.
○ Built through consistent behaviour and fulfilled promises.
Social Exchange Theory
• Overview: Social Exchange Theory suggests that social interactions involve an exchange of
resources, where individuals assess the benefits and costs to determine the value and
continuation of a relationship. People aim to maximize rewards (benefits) and minimize costs
in their interactions.
• Benefits and Costs:
○ Benefits: Rewards or positive outcomes received in a social exchange, such as
companionship, support, love, or material goods.
Lecture 4 Page 1
