The DOI matches its Crossref record; 172 of the 180 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Romantic love and sexual desire in close relationships
Abstract
Drawing on recent claims in the study of relationships, attachment, and emotion, the authors hypothesized that romantic love serves a commitment-related function and sexual desire a reproduction-related function. Consistent with these claims, in Study 1, brief experiences of romantic love and sexual desire observed in a 3-min interaction between romantic partners were related to distinct feeling states, distinct nonverbal displays, and commitment- and reproductive-related relationship outcomes, respectively. In Study 2, the nonverbal display of romantic love was related to the release of oxytocin. Discussion focuses on the place of romantic love and sexual desire in the literature on emotion.
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“However, findings regarding peripheral OT are mixed. Whereas some found links between plasma OT and positive communication, affiliation, and emotional support (Gonzaga et al., 2006; Grewen et al., 2005; Holt-Lunstad et al., 2008), others showed associations with negative emotions, anxiety, and distress in romantic couples (Marazziti et al., 2006; Tabak et al., 2010; Taylor et al., 2010).”
From Oxytocin during the initial stages of romantic attachment: Relations to couples’ interactive reciprocity (2012) · cites this paper as Gonzaga et al., 2006
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“Gonzaga et al. (2006) posit that sexual desire plays a role in starting contact, stimulating sexual interest, and seeking intimacy; this is the state that promotes passion and infatuation. Therefore, sexual desire is often so strong at the beginning of a relationship, and this explains why the presence or absence of c…”
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(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.index
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.app1
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.c7
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.toc
Appendix B. Individual smiling intensity by Dyad
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.app2
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.lof
Appendix D. Jokes in English and Spanish
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.app4
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.prelim
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.c3
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.c6
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.ref
Smiling patterns and dialogical smiling synergy
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.c4
Appendix C. Demographic questionnaire
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.app3
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.lot
Performing conversational humor multimodally – an overview
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(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.pre
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.c5
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“Oxy - tocin may have evolutionary adaptive significance regard - ing male behaviors in committed relationships (Algoe et al. 2017; Carter and Porges 2013; Feldman 2012; Gonzaga et al. 2006 ; Roels et al. 2021 ).”
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“…love was assessed as a latent factor that included (1) wives' and husbands' ratings of their partner on love-related adjectives (adapted from Fehr 1988) and (2) total nonverbal cues of love displayed by both partners in synchrony across the conversation (adapted from Gonzaga et al. 2001, 2006).”
(2022) · Figurative thought and language · doi:10.1075/ftl.13.app
Odenbaugh, J. (2025) · doi:10.1093/9780197820469.001.0001
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More than just smiling: how positive emotions are expressed on the face
Manokara, K., Teulings, I., Cong, Y.-Q., Kamiloglu, R. G., Fischer, A. H., & Sauter, D. A. (2026) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2025.0133
Metadata
- Authors
- Gonzaga, G. C., Turner, R. A., Keltner, D., Campos, B., & Altemus, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2006-05
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 163-179
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W2152410293
- Cited by
- 292
- References
- 180
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 16.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (5T32MH15750-22)
- US Public Health Service (5 MO1 RR-00079)
- California School of Professional Psychology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- romantic love, sexual desire, close relationships, romantic partners, relationship commitment, reproduction, oxytocin, attachment
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Attitude, Cues, Demography, Ethnicity, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Libido, Love, Male, Nonverbal Communication, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Partners, Social Desirability, Biomarkers, Expressed Emotion
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