What Is Closeness in a Relationship? It Is Culturally Diverse.

Scholars and laypeople frequently refer to psychological closeness in interpersonal relationships as “intimacy.” It might be either physical or emotional proximity, or their combination. It can be bodily, sexual, physical, emotional, or intellectual. The understanding of intimacy is also culturally … Continue reading

What Is Emotional Intimacy? It Is Culturally Diverse.

The word “intimacy” is widely utilized in modern scholarship and public discourse. Its frequent usage is perhaps comparable to the word “love.” Both are commonly used in diverse and vague senses. Some scholars and laypeople extensively use the word “intimacy” … Continue reading

How Social Propinquity Leads to Love

The article explains how social propinquity and residential proximity affect our interpersonal relationships, love, and marriage. Men and women tend to like those with whom they get together frequently. In social science, this is called the “propinquity effect.” They have … Continue reading

What Is Beautiful Is Culturally Good

Many people are familiar with the stereotypical expression “what is beautiful is good” (see, for review, Karandashev, 2022a; also another article on this below). However, this stereotype in many cultures is less powerful and more context-specific than researchers previously thought … Continue reading

Our Predisposition to Homogamy in Love

Genetic similarity and social homogamy play important roles in our interpersonal attraction and love. As I showed elsewhere, genetic resemblance between individuals predisposes them to fall in love. Partners in a couple share more genetic traits than random strangers. Nonetheless, … Continue reading

Love Words Across Languages and Cultures

PDF version Why do people use so many love words? What is the meaning behind all these love words? Love is so diverse in its variety of meanings and connotations, such as attraction and attachment, passion and compassion, intimacy and … Continue reading