A triangular theory of love Sternberg's (1986) triangular theory of love suggests that there are three major components of love: intimacy, passion and decision or commitment. Intimacy includes self-disclosure through sharing emotions and stories with one's partner. Passion involves erotic interest and sexual consummation. Commitment involves making a decision to stay with your partner and to defer this type of relationship with other potential partners. When all the elements are balanced, the most complete form of love - "consummate love" exists. According to Sternberg, that hardly ever happens. Usually people emphasize one or two elements, resulting in these types of love: "infatuated love" (high passion, low intimacy and commitment), "empty love" (high commitment, low intimacy and passion), "romantic love" (high intimacy and passion, low commitment), "companionate love" (high intimacy and commitment, low passion), "fatuous love" (high passion and commitment, low intimacy), "liking" (high intimacy present, low passion and commitment), and "nonlove" (all three components absent). Sternberg believes that in a particular relationship the components of love take different courses. For example, in a long-term relationship, level of passion goes down after it reaches a peak, but the level of intimacy keeps rising. And the two partners may not emphasize the same elements at the same time. For example, while one may seek mainly for passion, the other may seek for intimacy. For the relationship to be successful, the partners have to resolve their differences. http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa021500b.htm