University Psychology Essay: Romantic Relationships and Factors

This essay delves into the multifaceted world of romantic relationships, exploring key psychological factors that contribute to their success and stability. It examines the significance of emotional maturity, effective communication, and the role of affection and empathy in fostering strong bonds. The essay also addresses the importance of honesty, integrity, and a good sense of humor in navigating the complexities of relationships. Furthermore, it highlights the dangers of violence within relationships and provides a faith-based perspective on the values that underpin healthy partnerships. The essay references relevant research and scripture to provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of romantic relationships and the elements necessary for their long-term viability.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Romantic relationship is an important aspect of the life of most of the people. Love is
one of the most crucial and profound relationship that is known to human beings. People
normally seek the expression of love in a romantic relationship with a partner who is
compatible. They are the meaningful aspect of life and provides a deep source of fulfilment.
Relationship literature review
The ability of a stable relationship depends upon the qualities and the characteristics
of an ideal partner. The reason why people fall in love is still a mystery, but the reason why,
couples stay in love are less elusive. While there are several attributes that helps in continuing
a relationship, one of the most important attribute is the maturity of both the partners in
relationship. Emotional maturity between couples are necessary to compensate the
shortcomings and weaknesses in a couple. An individual with emotional maturity
continuously strives for a greater sense of emotional health both intra-physically and intra-
personality (Talukdar & Das, 2013). It helps a couple to cope up with the stressors of life.
An ideal partner can understand the importance of honesty and integrity in a close
relationship. Both the partners in a relationship should be honest to their relationships and
should be able to speak out against any kinds of unethical behavior. This helps in building he
trust between partners.
Another quality that is required in a relationship is affection and empathy. Two people
staying with each other should be aware of the differences and the commonalities between
them. Communication becomes a lot easier when a person is empathetic and communicates
with feelings. It has long been recognized that openness is really not a panacea for a healthy
and close relationship. It has been suggested in the communication privacy management

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theories and relational dialectics theory that, there should be a balance between the privacy
and openness in a relationship. Secret keeping and topic avoidance has been found to be
causing dissatisfaction between couples and it is likely that when people are not satisfied,
they tend to avoid their partners (Merrill & Afifi, 2012).
An ideal partner should have a good sense of humor. The capacity of an individual to
life at one’s self permits a person to maintain a proper perspective while dealing with
sensitive issues that arises within a relationship. Couples having a good sense of humors are
likely to defuse volatile and difficult situation with their humor. In has been stated by Cann &
Matson, (2014), that human is common interpersonal phenomena that can positively affect
the trajectories of social interactions. It has been found that humors is a mechanism that is
normally used for establishing connections with other individuals of both the sexes. People
having good sense of humors are more superior when it comes to communication skills. They
are more likely to be expressive in their feelings and generally preserve their resilience of
mind, even under stressful situations. One of the important attribute of a healthy relationship
is, affection. An ideal partner is always affectionate to his/her partner. An individual should
enjoy the closeness to pursue their sexual relationship and feel uninhibited in accepting and
giving pleasure.
Violence in any kind of relationship is not permissible and is the reason for most of
the failed relationship and marriages. Violence between dating partners have become a
subject of growing attention since the pioneer study by Makepeace in 1981 (Machado,
Martins & Caridade, 2014). According to the study, most of the people had revealed that they
knew somebody who had gone through abusive dating experience. According to the
researches, the severity of violence escalates over time. As per the researches, marriages that
are abusive are normally preceded by violent dating relationship. Hence, violence in
relationship is another aspect that needs to be avoided.

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Faith perspective
It has been described in the scriptures that “Love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must love one another”. Hence, it implied towards the fact that god himself has
instructed us to focus on humanism and not to remain confined within the shackles of hatred
and violence.
“Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he
brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his
father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:22-24).’
God has tried to say, that a husband and a wife is one and the same soul. Both of them
cannot be replaced and the position of women is of equal importance to that of a man.
Christian couples often turn to the verses of bible about marriage while they plan about their
nuptials. The scriptures of the holy book serve as their sentimental remainders of the love that
a couple share.
According to Ecclesiastes 4:9: “Two are better than one, because they have a good
return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone
who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?"
It clearly evident from the scriptures, that both the partners in a marriage or a loving
relationship should complement each other. One should not let another to fail and should pick
him/her up from distress. In order to maintain a sustainable relationship, It is necessary for
both the individuals to remain happy and in order to do that, it is necessary to feel congenial
and supportive towards one another. Each should be sensitive to other’s dreams, desires and

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feelings and must give importance to them equally. These propositions given by god is highly
relevant to the realities of life, but many of the couple fail to maintain these values.
Thus, it can be said that respect, trust, dignity, accountabilities, affection and good
sense of humor are some of the important factors of a fruitful relationship. The ideologies
proposed by God is highly relevant in the making of a successful relationship, however, there
are people, who fail to implement these.

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References
Cann, A., & Matson, C. (2014). Sense of humor and social desirability: Understanding how
humor styles are perceived. Personality and Individual Differences, 66, 176-180.
Machado, C., Martins, C., & Caridade, S. (2014). Violence in intimate relationships: A
comparison between married and dating couples. Journal of criminology, 2014.
Merrill, A. F., & Afifi, T. D. (2012). Examining the bidirectional nature of topic avoidance
and relationship dissatisfaction: The moderating role of communication skills.
Communication Monographs, 79(4), 499-521.
Talukdar, R. R., & Das, J. (2013). A Study on Emotional Maturity Among Arranged
Marriage Couples. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention,
2(8), 16-18.