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A triangular theory of love.
Abstract
This article presents a triangular theory of love. According the theory, has three components: (a) intimacy, which encompasses the feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness one experiences in loving relationships; (b) passion, which encompasses the drives that lead romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation; and (c) decision/commitment, which encompasses, in the short term, the decision that one loves another, and in the long term, the commitment maintain that love. The amount of one experiences depends on the absolute strength of these three components, and the kind of one experiences depends on their strengths relative each other. The three components interact with each other and with the actions that they produce and that produce them so as form a number of different kinds of loving experiences. The triangular theory of subsumes certain other theories and can account for a number of empirical findings in the research literature, as well as for a number of experiences with which many are familiar firsthand. It is proposed that the triangular theory provides a rather comprehensive basis for understanding many aspects of the that underlies close relationships. What does it mean to love someone? Does it always mean the same thing, and if not, in what ways do loves differ from each other? Why do certain loves seem last, whereas others disappear almost as quickly as they are formed? This article seeks answer these and other questions through a triangular theory of love. This tripartite theory deals both with the nature of and with loves in various kinds of relationships. The presentation of the theory will be divided into three main parts. In the first part, the main tenets of the theory will be explained and discussed, and the theory will be compared with other theories of love. In the second part, the implications of the theory for close relationships and satisfaction in them will be described. In the third part, the theory will be shown account for many of the empirical phenomena that have been observed with regard love.
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In the citing paper
“Sternberg (1986Sternberg ( , 1988) ) synthesizes previous attempts and defines love according to three constituent components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.”
From Strengthening Customer Loyalty through Intimacy and Passion: Roles of Customer–Firm Affection and Customer–Staff Relationships in Services (2008) · cites this paper as Sternberg 1986
In the citing paper
“Second, Sternberg's (1986) triangular theory of love and its constituent components apply to exemplary services on the transactional-relational continuum.”
From Strengthening Customer Loyalty through Intimacy and Passion: Roles of Customer–Firm Affection and Customer–Staff Relationships in Services (2008) · cites this paper as Sternberg (1986)
In the citing paper
“These three components are believed to be essential in forming and sustaining romantic relationships (Sternberg, 1986;Hatfield et al., 1988;Sternberg, 1997).”
From I love you, my AI companion! Do you? Perspectives from the Triangular Theory of Love and Attachment Theory (2026) · cites this paper as Sternberg, 1986
In the citing paper
“The Triangular Theory of Love has been widely accepted and adopted, due to its robustness and universality, across relationships of different natures (Sternberg, 1986).”
From I love you, my AI companion! Do you? Perspectives from the Triangular Theory of Love and Attachment Theory (2026) · cites this paper as Sternberg, 1986
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“” In the concept of commitment, which includes the conscious decision to bind to the partner and continuity over time, similar characteristics can be found (Sternberg, 1986; Acker and Davis, 1992; Bodenmann, 2013).”
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“For example, Sternberg's ( 1986 ) well-known treatment of love acknowledges three aspects: passion, intimacy, and decision/commitment.”
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“It is worth mentioning that intimacy is of great relevance especially at the beginning of a relationship, by serving as a helpful tool in order to build a relationship (B€ugel et al., 2011; Sternberg, 1986; Yim et al., 2008).”
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“As can be seen, the three factors found are in fact provided by the Triangular Theory of Love (Sternberg, 1986).”
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“, “I am able to count on <Name of partner> in times of need” (7-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree; Kanemasa & Daibo, 2003; Sternberg, 1986).”
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“Passion is a motivational involvement between the partners which evokes various forms of arousal (Sternberg, 1986).”
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“), an inseparable factor that engenders creativity (Amabile, 2001; Amabile & Fisher, 2009), a component of the triangle of love (Sternberg, 1986), as romance (Renzulli et al., 2006), as a motivator (Fredricks et al., 2010), and passion in terms of entrepreneurial activities (Cardon et al., 2009).”
An evolutionary case for polygyny to counter demographic collapse
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“I investigate not the psychological phenomenon of companionate love (Berscheid and Walster, 1978; Sternberg, 1986), but the social ideology (Giddens, 1992).”
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“In fact, this was expected, as commitment refers to the will of maintaining love over time and the decision of loving and being loved [16], and intimacy requires a degree of trust, closeness and connection with the partner [37, 63].”
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“…romantic love (Rubin, 1970), distinguishing romantic love from sexual desire (Gonzaga et al., 2006; Horikawa et al., 2020) or on analyzing couple-relationships on the axis of romantic love and companionate love through the concepts of passion, intimacy, and commitment (Sternberg, 1986, 2006).”
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“Then, foreseeing actions becomes possible and the couple gets to know each other better (Sternberg, 1986).”
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Análisis exploratorio de la escala de amor de Sternberg en estudiantes universitarios peruanos
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How to Make Loyal Fans in Virtual Communities: Evidence from the Facebook Fan Pages of Smartphones
Hsu, L.-C. (2019) · Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research · doi:10.4067/s0718-18762019000300110 · Cited by 12
“In psychological research, passion is normally analyzed through Sternberg’s [131] triangular theory of love.”
BackgroundTrémolière, B., & Djeriouat, H. (2019) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.03.025 · Cited by 12
Vermeulen, J. J., Lưu, H. T., Theary, K., et al. (2019) · Folia Malacologica · doi:10.12657/folmal.027.015 · Cited by 10
Flicker, S. M., Sancier‐Barbosa, F., Afroz, F., et al. (2019) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12622 · Cited by 10
On-Again, Off-Again Relationships
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Diniso, C., & Duh, H. I. (2020) · Journal of African Business · doi:10.1080/15228916.2020.1838832 · Cited by 10
Fernández, I., Pérez, J. J. N., Carbonell, Á., & Oliver, A. (2021) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-020-01331-w · Cited by 13
“On the other hand, the more recent Triangular Theory of Love (Sternberg, 1986, Sternberg, 1998) suggests that love comprises three basic components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.”
BackgroundLemieux, R. (2002) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.90.3.1009-1014 · Cited by 10
Brand love, brand image and loyalty in Australian elite sport
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A PRELIMINARY TRIAL EXPLORING PERFUME PREFERENCES IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS
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Nawangsari, N. A. F., & Indriastuti, I. (2014) · Jurnal Psikologi Industri dan Organisasi · Cited by 10
Romantic Relationships, Adolescence and HIV: Love as an Element of Vulnerability
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“It should be noted that, in this study, intimacy did not appear as a component with a tendency to increase the duration of the relationship, possibly because of this component of love not being exclusive to romantic relationships (Sternberg, 1986), it also being present in relationships of friendship, these often prec…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialPeak and mystical experiences in intimate relationships
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“Sternberg (1986) proposed that the basic components of a fulfilling relationship are commitment, passion and intimacy.”
BackgroundUnderstanding Cognitive Changes in Intimacy in Long-Term Romantic Relationships
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10. Dialogue, information, and psychosocial organization
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sternberg, R. J.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sternberg, Robert J.
- ORCID
- Sternberg, Robert J.
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 1986-04
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 119-135
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W2034890640
- Cited by
- 2,614
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 125 · 2025: 204 · 2024: 153 · 2023: 187 · 2022: 165 · 2021: 149 · 2020: 156 · 2019: 167 · 2018: 136 · 2017: 114 · 2016: 97 · 2015: 99 · 2014: 94 · 2013: 90 · 2012: 85
- FWCI
- 16.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Sexual Relationships
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- triangular theory of love, intimacy, passion, commitment, close relationships, romantic love, relationship satisfaction, theory of love
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