Question

Joe and Mary just met a week ago. They both are very attracted to each other and can't stop thinking about each other. They haven't discussed any kind of commitment yet, though. According to Sternberg, what kind of love does this couple share?

Answer 1

Infatuated love.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sternberg's triangular theory says there are 3 elements of love and they all can be present or not in a relationship, making 8 different kinds of love.

The 3 elements of love are:

1. Intimacy: Refers to feelings of closeness and bondnesness in a relationship.
2. Passion: Refers to physical attraction and/or sexual behavior in a relationship.
3. Commitment: This refers both to the decision in the short term to love one another, and to the long term to love each other and be in a relationship.

According to Sternberg, these are the types of love that can exists according to the presence or absence of the elements:

1. Non love: It refers to the absence of three components.
2. Liking: The only component present is intimacy.
3. Infatuated love: The component present is passion.
4. Empty love: The only component present is commitment.
5. Romantic love: It has the intimacy and passion components.
6. Compassionate love: There is intimacy and commitment.
7. Fatuous love: There is passion and commitment.
8. Consummate love: Has all three components.

In the example, we can tell that the only element present is Passion, since they met only a week ago and they haven't developed a real feeling of closeness. The same way, they haven't discussed any kind of commitment.

Thus, this is an example of Infatuated love, since the only component is passion.