in the 19th century, the notion of marrying for love was seen as the ideal, and by the 20th it was the norm. we want our spouse to be our soulmate—the one person in the world who meets all of our social, emotional, and sexual needs. this is the question that york university (toronto) psychologist amy muise and colleagues explored in a study published in the journal of social and personal relationships. these respondents reported on the degree to which …

a new study tracked people who planned to open up their romantic relationship to include other partners for two months. “how do people choose to open their relationships up to other partners, and what happens afterward? do the consequences of opening up a relationship depend on a person’s reasons for wanting to do so? when it came to relationship quality and life satisfaction, on the other hand, there was no meaningful difference between those who opened their relationships and those …

to many people, part of the appeal, the mystique, of love is that it is incomprehensible. let us take a look at what the science of love has to say and find out. is the stuff of commitment and emotional intimacy. in short, the common idea that “opposites attract” is nearly entirely a myth. this effect, called , was discovered by robert zajonc (1968), and it is one of the most well-known effects in psychology. in the case of sex, …

combining the greek and latin roots for “many” “loves,” polyamory is a relationship model built on the idea of having romantic love with more than one person. it just means that they don’t want to live in the assumption that they’ll follow the timeline and milestones of a traditional relationship. the closed v is a handy way of describing the dynamics of a polyamorous relationship where two people share a romantic and sexual connection with the third, but not to …

here, experts explain the rules of open relationships, what to consider if you’re thinking of entering one, and how to bring up your desires to your current partner. relationships can be open both in terms of love and sex and they can be long- or short-term. “in a lot of long-term polyamorous relationships, you’ll find that people have less rules over time, because they get used to the idea that these things happen and they don’t lose their partners.” “open …