Courtship & Love

• Includes stages in the romantic relationship whereby one gets to know more about the other person in an exclusive manner through dating.

  Courtship
• A process that offers an opportunity for an individual to know more about another person and have a friendly association or enjoyable time with him/her.

  Dating
• Is a common activity to individuals in the late adolescent stage.

  Dating
• In this stage, a person will select an individual who will be his or her "steady."

  Selective stage
• After dating, a person decides whether or not to continue 'seeing' a certain individual.

  Selective stage
• This is the stage where a romantic relationship is made official. 


  Going 'steady'
• It involves an agreement, such as exclusively dating each other and the intention to proceed with marriage in the future. 


  Going 'steady'
• A multifaceted and complex concept that could be experienced in every stage of life - childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

  Love
• One of the psychologists who theorized about love proposed his "triangular theory of love."

  Robert Sternberg
• Where three components of love are absent.

  Non-love
• Characterized by the feeling of closeness without passion and commitment.

  Liking or friendship
• There is an experience of passionate excitement but intimacy and the decision to commit are missing.

  Infatuated love
• There is no love or passion only commitment. 


  Empty love
• The components of intimacy and passion are present, but commitment is missing.

  Romantic love
• Can be considered as stronger than friendship because of the presence of intimacy. There is no passion but long-term commitment exists.

  Companionate love
• There is a passion which results in commitmthatent, but since there was a rushed decision to commit, there was no opportunity for intimacy.

  Fatuous love
• A concrete example of this is whirlwind romances and marriages.

  Fatuous love
• The perfect and ideal form of love everybody desires to achieve.

  Consummate love
• According to Sternberg, couples in this kind of love cannot find happiness from other persons besides their partners.

  Consummate love
• A promise, pledge, or decision to stick by each other through the ups and downs of the relationship.

  Commitment
• Stages of courtship. 


  1. Dating
  2. Selective stage
  3. Going 'steady'
  4. Engagement period
• Three Dimensions of Commitment in Intimate Relationships.

  1. Commitment as an attraction or the "want to" aspect.
  2. Commitment as a moral obligation or the "ought to" aspect.
  3. Commitment as a constraint or the "have to" aspect.
• Five (5) acceptable expressions of attraction.

  1. Glancing at each other
  2. Verbal communication
  3. Giving presents
  4. Walking arm in arm
  5. Holding hands
• Five (5) unacceptable expressions of attraction.

  1. Kissing
  2. Flirting
  3. Intimate activities
  4. Holding in public
  5. Invading personal space
• How to become responsible in managing relationships?

  1. Be "ready" before entering a relationship
  2. Make an assessment of your level of maturity
  3. Weigh the risks and the consequences of your actions
  4. Approach mature individuals