The subjective experience of intimacy, passion, and commitment in heterosexual loving relationships

Abstract

Lovers’responses to open‐ended questions concerning the experience and communication of intimacy, passion, and commitment were content‐ and factor‐analyzed. These analyses resulted in six ways of experiencing intimacy (openness, sex, affection, supportiveness, togetherness, and quiet company); two ways of experiencing passion (romance and sexual intimacy); and five ways of experiencing commitment (supportiveness, expressions of love, fidelity, expressions of commitment, and consideration and devotion). These results suggest that love, intimacy, passion, and commitment are best conceived as related, overlapping gestalts in the subjective experiences of actual lovers.

‘You’re all so close you might as well sit in a circle … ’ Carceral geographies of intimacy and comfort in the prison visiting room

“…This definitional triad resonates with some sociological scholarship (e.g. Marston et al 1998;Patrick and Beckenbach 2009;Register and Henley 1992;Štulhofer, Ferreira, and Landripet 2014), in which definitions of intimacy are descriptive, multidimensional, and operational (Moss and Schwebel 1993;see also Warwick 2017). Descriptive definitions address what it is that adults find to be intimate about their relationships; multidimensional definitions identify relationship qualities that enable them to be considered intimate; and operational definitions observe behaviours linked to factors that make relationships intimate.…”

An Exploration of the Construction of Commitment Leading to Marriage

“…Marston, Hecht, Manke, McDaniel, and Reeder (1998), for example, said that commitment is experienced by different people in different and multiple ways. This experiential view of commitment allows a broader understanding of the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive elements of commitment (Weigel, 2003).…”

Korean Pastors and Their Wives’ Marital Satisfaction and Its Predicting Factors

“…Research asserts that the expression of affection is a key factor for discriminating between happily married couples and unhappily married couples because it serves to develop relational intimacy (Kathryn and Timmerman 2003;Lee 1999;Marston et al 1998;Waldinger et al 2004;Yum and Canary 2003). Since the expression of affection involves purposeful actions of both husbands and wives, couples who express their affection are more likely to experience relational satisfaction (Sanderson and Cantor 1997;Sanderson and Evans 2001).…”

“…Weijmar Schultz and Van De Wiel (2003) contend that sexuality meets both biological and social needs, and thus increases the quality of life. The experience of sexual satisfaction also reinforces relational intimacy and reduces tensions in marriage (Gottman and Silver 1999;Marston et al 1998;and McCarthy 2003). According to Olson and DeFrain (2003), sexually satisfied couples are more likely to express their affection and respect the needs and desires of their partners.…”

“…For example, couples partaking in joint leisure activities have higher marital satisfaction than those who do not (Baldwin et al 1999), which suggests that shared activity enhances their marital quality (Aron et al 2002). Spending time together, even without communication, could lead to marital intimacy (Marston et al 1998). …”