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28 - Love in Relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2026

By
Arthur Aron ,
Jennifer M. Tomlinson  and
Elaine Hatfield
Edited by
Anita L. Vangelisti ,
Daniel Perlman  and
Susan Sprecher
Anita L. Vangelisti
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
Daniel Perlman
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Susan Sprecher
Affiliation:
Illinois State University
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Summary

Romantic love seems to be a nearly universal phenomenon, appearing in every culture for which data are available and in every historical era. This chapter first reviews research on how ordinary people construe love. Then it turns to how researchers have understood and measured love, organizing its discussion around the theme of types of love. Next it covers the course of love with a focus on falling in love. It then reviews several approaches that have been particularly influential in specifically focusing on understanding the dynamics of romantic love, especially with regard to passionate love. It concludes with a brief review of the work on other kinds of love in relationships. The authors hope that this review has conveyed their view that the study of love is both important and a thriving scientific endeavor, offering both a solid foundation and vast opportunities for significant future work.

Keywords

romantic loverelationshipsfalling in loverelationship maintenanceself-expansion

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The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships , pp. 594 - 615
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2026

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