Friends are seen as vital components of an individual’s life because they come to the rescue when one is in a crisis by providing emotional and physical support. The relationships made between lovers, friends, and family members are also important because it offers a sense of belonging. Moreover, it helps in alleviating loneliness and is central when it comes to an individual’s physical and psychological health (Alberts, Nakayama & Martin, 2016).
Intimate partners develop their relationship first by noticing each other and then later they become interested with each other enough to contact the other person. This relationship functions due to the presence of attraction theory at play where forces of proximity, interpersonal attractiveness, and similarity set the stage for the development of a relationship. Intimate partners are said to be opposite each other but when it concerns their values, backgrounds, and attitudes, they are similar. In my case for example, meeting a compatible partner will mean that I engaging in activities I love doing such as playing basketball or making an effort to attend such activities regularly.
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For intimate partners, their proximity plays a critical role when it comes to the development of their relationship. Dating is experienced for people living in the same neighborhoods, dorms, or apartment complexes among many other options (Alberts, Nakayama & Martin, 2016). Romantic or intimate partners have relationships that are dyadic interactions, meaning they are ever changing and are intensely complex. The interaction of these individuals was determinant on their proximity, but technology has changed all this and has introduced text messaging, social networks and other media of communication. Intimate partners will notice others’ attractive qualities, learn their similarities and eventually develop a relationship through the unplanned and informal communication brought by proximity.
Attractiveness is the other force that looks at the matching hypothesis tendency, which is also seen to apply to friendships, roommates, marriages, and romantic relationships. In the case of intimate partners, attractiveness considers physical, social (how one is perceived with regard to being friendly, warm, outgoing, and sociable); and task (their contributions to mutual tasks, charming ways, or wonderful personalities come into play) components. All these qualities are always revealed through communication and thus, by improving communication skills increase the desire of others to form a relationship (Alberts, Nakayama & Martin, 2016). Good communication also brings people to perceive one’s attractiveness to light.
The things valued most out of the intimate partners’ ability to maintain their relationship is that they both practice mindfulness ( McGill, Adler-Baeder & Rodriguez, 2016 ). By so doing, they are giving active attention, which is an art, to the moment and this gives the other partner a feeling of being valued deeply. This will then foster trust, intimacy, and connection between the intimate partners. Commitment is the other thing valued between intimate partners because it results in a long-lasting partnership. Predictive satisfaction is also emphasized in such relationships, which is obtained through prioritizing enjoyment, amusement, pleasure and having fun (Proyer, 2015). The sustained health of a romantic partnership critically looks at relationship maintenance behaviors. As such, working on relationships will help make the relationship last and happy through such acts like being open to give relational reassurances, readily sharing responsibilities and work that comes with a long-term relationship ( Ogolsky & Bowers, 2013). Intimate partners are always prone to conflict and this means that they need to be flexible especially when navigating serious conflicts. According to Overall and McNulty (2017) the strategy that needs to be employed is one that is more cooperative and uses an affectionate approach. Intimate partners will have a successful relationship if they invest in it and have a support system that is structural such as, having an ability to manage stresses of life.
References
Alberts, J. K., Nakayama, T. K., & Martin, J. N. (2016). Human communication in society (4th
ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
McGill, J., Adler-Baeder, F., & Rodriguez, P. (2016). Mindfully in love: A meta-analysis of the
association between mindfulness and relationship satisfaction. Journal of Human
Sciences and Extension Volume , 4(1), 255-271.
Ogolsky, B. G., & Bowers, J. R. (2013). A meta-analytic review of relationship maintenance and
its correlates. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 30(3), 343-367.
Overall, N. C., & McNulty, J. K. (2017). What type of communication during conflict is
beneficial for intimate relationships?. Current Opinion in Psychology , 13, 1-5.
Proyer, R. T., & Wagner, L. (2015). Playfulness in Adults Revisited: The Signal Theory in
German Speakers. American Journal of Play , 7(2), 201-227.
