Passionate love - meaning and definition
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Definition
Passionate love is a state of intense longing for union with another person, combining strong emotion, physical attraction and preoccupation.
At a glance
- Passionate love is an intense longing for union with another person.
- Elaine Hatfield and Ellen Berscheid distinguished it from companionate love in the 1970s.
- Brain-imaging studies link it with reward circuits involved in motivation.
- It usually becomes less intense over time, which is normal and does not mean love has ended.
In detail
Social psychologists Elaine Hatfield and Ellen Berscheid distinguished passionate love from companionate love in the 1970s. Passionate love is the heady, energetic feeling typical of new relationships, and brain-imaging studies have linked it with reward circuits also involved in motivation.
Passionate love often becomes less intense over time as a relationship becomes familiar. That change is normal and does not mean love has ended. Many long-term couples describe a shift toward companionate love, with moments of renewed passion when they share novel experiences together.
In a sentence
- Those first months were pure passionate love: we couldn't stop thinking about each other.
- The lecture contrasted passionate love with the steadier companionate love of long relationships.
Where the word comes from
Social psychologists Elaine Hatfield and Ellen Berscheid set out the distinction between passionate and companionate love in the 1970s. Hatfield and Susan Sprecher later developed the Passionate Love Scale to measure it.
Not to be confused with
- Companionate love
Companionate love is the calmer, deeply trusting affection that often develops in long relationships.
Common questions
Does passionate love fade?
It commonly becomes less intense as a relationship becomes familiar. Many long-term couples describe a shift toward companionate love, with moments of renewed passion, for example when they share new experiences together.