3. FLIRTING
Flirting is a social and
sometimes sexual
activity involving verbal
or written
communication as well
as body language by
one person to another,
suggesting an interest
in a deeper relationship
with the other person.
4. ATTRACTION
Attraction refers
to positive feelings
about another
person. It can take
many forms,
including liking,
love, friendship,
lust, and
admiration.
6. LOVE
Love is an emotion of a
strong affection and
personal attachment.
Love refers specifically to
the passionate desire and
intimacy of romantic love,
to the emotional
closeness of familial love,
to the platonic love that
defines friendship, or to
the profound oneness or
devotion of religious love.
7. ROMANCE
Romance is the
expressive and
pleasurable
feeling from an
emotional
attraction towards
another person
associated
with love.
8. MARRIAGE
Marriage is a
formal union
between a man
and a woman in
which they
become a
husband and wife
respectively.
9. The basic consensus to be test is, attraction
being the binding force towards Love and
Romance.
The variables discussed are thus; attraction, love and
romance. These variables will be discussed in
accordance with some social continuums, such as:
1. Platonic Love
2. Marital Love
3. Romantic Love
4. Workplace Romance
5. Internet Romance
10. The attributes populating such emotions
in a person can be:
1. Physical Appearance,
2. Emotional Attachment or Similarity,
3. Social Aspects,
4. Marital Status,
5. Sensuality,
6. Religion,
7. Hobbies,
8. Physical Activities and so on and so forth.
(M. Fishbein, 2004)
11. PLATONIC LOVE Defines Friendship
Platonic love is an affectionate relationship that does
not involves sexual intimacy.
A simple example of platonic relationships is a deep,
non-sexual friendship between two people of the
opposite sexes.
13. We may think we’re capable of being
―just friends‖ with members of the
opposite sex, but the opportunity (or
perceived opportunity) for ―romance‖
is often lurking just around the corner,
waiting to pounce at the most
inopportune moment.
14. Some people see friendship as something sacred
and they do not like the idea of having a
relationship with say, their very best friend of the
opposite gender. They prefer platonic in the
friendship and feel very betrayed when their friend
fall in love with them and start to develop feelings.
But there is nothing wrong in it. Love is beautiful.
Love between friends fall something naturally and
is not planned at all. It depends on the persons
involved. If both have feelings for each other, they
should not stop themselves. But if only one party
loves the other, then it might jeopardize the
friendship.
15. Crossing that line from friendship to
romance can be both beautiful and
extremely tricky. Many people may
have a secret crush on their friend
but resist for fear that the
relationship will turn sour. What if
you happen to lose the friendship
altogether? On the other hand, what
better basis for love than an intimate
friendship?
16. According to a research study:
Men are much more attracted to their female friends
than vice versa. Men are also more likely than women
to think that their opposite-sex friends were attracted
to them—a clearly misguided belief. In fact, males
assumed that any romantic attraction they
experienced was mutual, but were blind to the actual
level of romantic interest felt by their female friends.
Women, too, were blind to the mindset of their
opposite-sex friends; because females generally are
not attracted to their male friends, and assumed that
this lack of attraction was mutual.
17. Men and women have vastly different views of
what it means to be ―just friends‖—and that these
differing views have the potential to lead to trouble.
Although women seem to be genuine in their belief
that opposite-sex friendships are platonic, men
seem unable to turn off their desire for something
more. And even though both genders agree overall
that attraction between platonic friends is more
negative than positive, males are less likely than
females to hold this view.
18. So, can men and women be ―just
friends?‖ If we all thought like
women, almost certainly. But if
we all thought like men, we’d
probably be facing a serious
overpopulation crisis.
20. Most people think that love and marriage
have the same origin and imply the same
motives as far as human needs are
concerned. According to scholars, this is
not the fact but just a notion and marriage
is built over a period of time. Loving
someone and being loved brings
happiness but it does not necessarily
mean that when a man and a woman are
in love they will end up in marriage.
21. Marriage is the pillar on which romantic love is
build. Accordingly, the love and friendship that
exists between a woman and a man grows
into a desire for marriage. Marriage thus acts
as the foundation for the couple to grow into a
union of soul and heart. In a marriage,
children become the bond of the marriage and
are its fruits. (Love, marriage and family).
22. On the other hand, scholars argue
that love does not result from
marriage. It is very rare to find a
married couple falling in love after
marriage but some argue that a
couple has to adjust to fall in love
when already in a union to avoid the
inventible fatal attraction.
24. Getting married is a huge change in itself. It's a
big commitment saying that you want to spend
your entire life with this person. Usually the
young couple has no clue what that even
means. A lifetime is a long, long time to be with
anyone. A successful marriage is hard work.
Too many people expect it to be all love and
roses. That "honeymoon" period last a short
time into the marriage, and then the couple
relaxes into married love which is when the
annoying habits that used to be cute start
bothering you and you get tired of picking up
his dirty socks which you used to consider a
duty of love.
25. When you get married, you can't do
everything the way you always did. You
have to learn to give and take and
compromise. Your money isn't your own to
spend as you choose any longer. You find
you have to work at keeping things exciting
and new. It's a lot more work taking care of
two instead of just one. You want to go to a
movie, but he wants to go to the races --
with his friends!
26. When children come along, things change again.
It's amazing how much that tiny little bundle
changes your lifestyle. Sleep is at a premium, and
tempers get short. Everything you do revolves
around your baby. Some husbands get jealous of
the time the baby takes their wives, time which
they can't devote to them any longer. Finances
may become more difficult. You never know what
may happen. There are years when you actually
have to work at doing things together without the
kids. It's necessary to keep the marriage alive,
and the marriage, not the children, is the nucleus
to a functional family life.
27. But which love, do u think lasts for
ever, Is it the love before, marriage
where both the couples hang out
and know each other and then
get's married or the love which
comes after marriage.
28. ROMANTIC LOVE
We've all experienced love. We've loved (and been loved by) parents,
brothers, sisters, friends, even pets. But romantic love is different. It's
an intense, new feeling unlike any of these other ways of loving.
29. The kind of love we feel in romantic
relationships is its own unique type of love.
Our ability to feel romantic love develops
during adolescence. Teens all over the world
notice passionate feelings of attraction. Even
in cultures where people are not allowed to
act on or express these feelings, they're still
there. It's a natural part of growing up to
develop romantic feelings and sexual
attractions to others. These new feelings can
be exciting — or even confusing at first.
30. Love is such a powerful human emotion that
experts are constantly studying it. They've
discovered that love has three main qualities:
1. Attraction
2. Closeness
3. Commitment
31. These three qualities of love can be combined in different
ways to make different kinds of relationships. For
example:
Closeness without attraction is the kind of love we feel for
best friends. We share secrets and personal stuff with
them, we support them, and they stand by us. But we are
not romantically interested in them.
Attraction without closeness is more like a crush or
infatuation. You're attracted to someone physically but
don't know the person well enough yet to feel the
closeness that comes from sharing personal experiences
and feelings.
Romantic love is when attraction and closeness are
combined. Lots of relationships grow out of an initial
attraction (a crush or "love at first sight") and develop into
closeness. It's also possible for a friendship to move from
closeness into attraction as two people realize their
relationship is more than "just like" and they have become
interested in one another in a romantic way.
32. When attraction, or romantic passion, comes into
play, we often lose our ability to think rationally -- at
least when it comes to the object of our attraction. The
old saying "love is blind" is really accurate in this stage.
We are often oblivious to any flaws our partner might
have. We idealize them and can't get them off our
minds. If this attraction remains strong and is felt by
both of them, then this turns into attachment and
commitment. You've passed fantasy love and are
entering into real love.
33. When people first experience falling in love, it often
starts as attraction. Sexual feelings can also be a part
of this attraction. People at this stage might daydream
about a crush.
It sure feels like love. But it's not love yet. It hasn't had
time to grow into emotional closeness that's needed
for love. Because feelings of attraction and sexual
interest are new, and they're directed at a person we
want a relationship with, it's not surprising we confuse
attraction with love. It's all so intense, exciting, and
hard to sort out.
The crazy intensity of the passion and attraction phase
fades a bit after a while. If a relationship is destined to
last, this is where closeness enters the picture. The
early passionate intensity may fade, but a deep
affectionate attachment takes its place.
35. Love is delicate. It needs to be cared for and
nurtured if it is to last through time. Just like
friendships, relationships can fail if they are
not given enough time and attention. This is
one reason why some couples might not
last — perhaps someone is so busy with
work that he or she has less time for a
relationship.
36. For some teens, a couple may grow
apart because the things that are
important to them change as they
mature. Or maybe each person wants
different things out of the relationship.
Sometimes both people realize the
relationship has reached its end;
sometimes one person feels this way
when the other does not.
37. Many relationships don't last, though. We
typically have shorter relationships as
teens because adolescence is a time when
we instinctively seek lots of different
experiences and try out different things. It's
all part of discovering who we are, what we
value, and what we want out of life.
Another reason we tend to have shorter
relationships in our teens is because the
things we want to get out of a romantic
relationship change as we get a little older.
38. When a relationship ends, people really need
support. Losing a first love isn't something we've
been emotionally prepared to cope with. It can
help to have close friends and family members to
lean on.
Romance provides us with a chance to discover
our own selves as we share with someone new.
We learn the things we love about ourselves, the
things we'd like to change, and the qualities and
values we look for in a partner.
Loving relationships teach us self-respect as well
as respect for others. Love is one of the most
fulfilling things we can have in our lives.
39. If romance hasn't found you yet,
don't worry — there's plenty of time.
And the right person is worth the
wait.
40. WORKPLACE ROMANCE
Workplace romance exists when two members of the same
organization develop a relationship with mutual attraction.
41. When in a workplace people grow bonds with
their co-workers that go beyond just friendly
'lunch' meetings. They grow in-depth
relationships that deepen into romance. A
place where people share a common interest,
and spend most of their time, provides the
perfect opportunity for love.
43. Your productivity or the productivity of those around
you may suffer.
If your office romance results in preferential
treatment with regard to work assignments, raises,
promotions or company perks your co-workers will
resent you.
Envious co-workers may attempt to sabotage your
work.
Your coworkers’ perceptions of your work
performance may be lowered.
You could be accused of creating, or contributing to
a hostile workplace environment.
44. Becoming romantically involved with someone
at work could even cost you your job.
You could become the subject of office
gossip.
A workplace romance with a superior will
cause workmates to assume you’re getting
preferential treatment, even if that is not the
case.
No matter how competent you are, some of
your workmates will always attribute your job
advancement to your workplace romance.
45. Businesses and companies are still
confused at whether or not they
should interfere in the romantic
relationship. If they do choose to
interfere, what department should be
in control of handling the situation
and what policies should be set if
workplace romances do happen.
46. INTERNET ROMANCE
Internet romance includes intimate relationships, between people who
have met online, and in many cases know each other only via
the Internet.
47. Internet is another medium which can result in the
development of attraction between people. People use
internet for socialization and can easily develop romantic
affiliations as they share their views and experiences
through the medium. People connect each other through
emails, chatting and social platforms bonding with their
people of interest and the reality of experience can result in
different levels of attachments and attractions towards
others. Individuals who spend more time online are more
likely to have higher rates of emotional loneliness. High
Internet use associates with high emotional loneliness, and
may therefore contribute to emotional difficulty. The stability
of the Internet relationships compares quite favorably to
that of relationships that form and last only in the traditional
face-to-face world. We have to alter our use of these novel
communication tools, or we may have to learn to develop
them in ways that are more beneficial to our psychological
health.
49. We are living in the age of
technology. People are using
computers and the Internet for nearly
every aspect of their lives - to manage
finances, to search for jobs, to go
shopping, and even to find
romance. Internet dating is becoming
an increasingly popular method of
meeting romantic partners, but there
are certainly many things to be aware
of when taking this route to love.
50. Many Internet users feel that there is less pressure
when meeting potential dates through the Internet
than there is when face-to-face, since they are being
judged solely on personality, rather than
appearance. It is also easier for a shy person to
interact over the Internet because he/she can select
the desired level of anonymity.
These same factors that make it seem easier also
make it more dangerous. Since every person is free
to hide secrets about himself/herself, or even distort
the truth, many will never know if they are truly
learning all of the important details about the other
person. Online, anyone can lie about their
appearance or other traits.
51. With these missing details, many begin to care for what is
essentially an imaginary person. Many people who are
looking for Internet romance tend to assume a complete
familiarity with their "partner", but may not know important
information. It is easy to get swept into a fantasy world,
because everyone wants so badly to be part of a happy
couple, so many people fill in the gaps with their
imagination. This can present a great disappointment when
the couple finally meets each other.
Another side-effect of the ease and anonymity of online
communication is that individuals may reveal a lot of
personal information that they would not disclose in a real-
life situation. If you decide to participate in online dating,
please be careful not to become too personal until you
learn a lot about the other person, because you could be
taken advantage of.
52. There have been many success stories, but
it is always important to be very
cautious. You may have found some real
compatibility but before you get too far you
should try to fill in some of the mystery with
3-D reality. Exchange pictures, talk on the
phone and figure out a way to meet in
person. But, be sure to meet in a safe,
public place, and be careful about the
amount of personal information you divulge.
54. CONCLUSION
All being said, the concept of love and romance is
completely dependent on the level of attraction in every
social aspect, either on the levels of interaction through
internet, work place, institutions or any other form. The
result of people falling in love or development of
romantic feelings is merely based upon on the level of
attractiveness observed by people on their own desires
and discretion. Evidently, it can be expressed that
attraction is actually the binding source for love and
romance.
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