Science Shocker: Enduring Erotic Chemistry
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The stereotype of the dimming of erotic enthusiams in enduring relationships:
“I think generally, in the literature, love has been measured as passionate love, so I think that’s one reason for this widely-held assumption that love had to fade in relationships,” said Bianca Acevedo, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who authored the study while she was a graduate student at Stony Brook University. “The obsessive component is generally combined with the romantic component. Thought of that way, it looks like it’s diminishing, but if you assess the romantic love differently than the obsessive component, it happens for a greater proportion than what was generally thought.”
Research published in a new issue of the learned journal Review of General Psychology says:
Romantic love has the same intensity, engagement and sexual chemistry as passionate love has, but without the obsession, Acevedo said. Passionate love, on the other hand, includes feelings of uncertainty and anxiety.
Many long-term couples report surprisingly high levels of romance
As with all human relationships it is a matter of empathy and mindfulness, not buying hundreds of self-help books.
