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The 14 types of couple: how is your relationship?

The 14 types of couple: how is your relationship?

March 30, 2024

Love is one of the great motivations of the human being, and in fact, having a partner is one of the great life goals that people have.

Being in love is great, and makes you get up every morning as if you were in a cloud. However, that initial period of falling in love then you have to work it. Being a couple is a constant negotiation where different personalities coexist in many occasions .

Keys to having a healthy relationship

This clash of personalities, interests and even objectives can turn couple relationships into a real ordeal. Possibly there is still a great attraction, however, the difficulties that can arise and especially the bad communication, can cause the relationship to become toxic. For this to not happen we must always:


  • Love from freedom and respect
  • Communicate effectively
  • Negotiate and propose intermediate solutions
  • Share time with the couple
  • Pamper the relationship
  • Change if necessary
  • Trust in the other
  • You can deepen these tips in our post: "The 7 keys to have a healthy relationship"

Love according to Sternberg's theory

There have been many love theorists, one of the best known is Robert Sternberg. In his triangular theory of love, the American psychologist says that there are three different components that manifest in any relationship: intimacy, passion and commitment:


  • The intimacy : Intimacy refers to affection, to the relationship with the couple, to that connection that we only feel with the person we love.
  • The passion : It is the intense feeling of being with that person intimately and expressing romantic desires. It is the excitement and the intense desire to spend moments alone with the other.
  • Commitment : The commitment is the decision to be with the other person and to maintain that love over time. It is what helps to overcome bad times.

Types of loving couple

In love not everything is white or black, but there are many ways to love. But how can we classify couples? Following Sternberg's theory, é he proposes different types of love and, therefore, differentiated types of couples .


In this article you can find the different types of couple. They are the following:

1. Infatuation

Infatuated couples are characterized because they only have one characteristic of the three that have been discussed in the previous section: passion. Despite being together, the members of the couple do not really know each other , which results in a low intimacy. Likewise, they do not feel commitment either. Infatuation can refer to the beginning of the relationship.

2. Empty relationships

Empty love is one that is characterized by commitment, but there is no passion or intimacy . Basically, it refers to marriages for convenience.

3. Romantic couples

Romantic love is characterized by intimacy and passion, however, there is no commitment . It would be the typical summer love or short relationships in which nothing is rationalized or agreements are established between the people involved. Everything is experienced spontaneously without trying to establish it as a clearly solid relationship.

4. Sociable couples

Sociable love refers to the love that two people feel when there is intimacy and commitment, but not passion . For example, when they have many years of relationship and no longer have intimate encounters, but rather are governed by routine and shared activities that can also be done in the social field beyond the domestic.

5. Fatuous relationships

In these couples intimacy never gets built . They are characterized by passion and commitment, but not intimacy. This makes it very common to keep many secrets for yourself, even if they are important and concern the other person involved in the relationship. Love is experienced as a one-sided experience.

6. Accomplished love

The relationships that present this type of love are those that can be happy. They are healthy relationships, which have the three components of Sternberg's theory : intimacy, passion and commitment.

Other kinds of couple

However, depending on the quality of the relationship, the time taken together and the values ​​of the couple, there are other types of partners:

7. The best friends

They say that the couple is a friend with erotic moments. Sometimes intimate moments are shared with that person who is your faithful friend. In this type of couple, maybe the members were friends already at school, they grew up together and shared great moments of friendship . One day, the way they saw each other changed, and then romantic love arose between them. However, it can happen that people meet at later ages and after being best friends end up as a couple.

8The bullies

According to a popular saying, Love is the most beloved. This may be true with this type of couples. They have arguments every two times and they are like the cat and the dog, but there they go, rowing against the current. If you are friends with any of them, you are probably fed up with comforting them. And, even if you do not understand it, either one of the two members has low self-esteem, or their moments of intimacy are really excellent.

9. Those of the hobby in common

Definitely, Sharing a hobby with your partner is one of the best ways to keep the relationship alive . Some couples go camping together, surf or climb. Others are fitness lovers, and others are partiers and lovers of the night. These couples share many moments together and enjoy each other.

10. Those of a lifetime

Some couples met really young and have spent their whole lives together . These couples, without a doubt, are the ideal couple in the eyes of the people, but not all relationships have this luck. Many break down on the road due to the wear and tear produced by the accumulation of crises and quarrels, or the loss of passion or intimacy.

11. Long-distance couples

Sometimes, it may happen that love arises but the person lives somewhere else . Many decide that this is not a way to live and one of the two moves to where the other is. However, for different reasons this is not always possible, and some couples have to spend a long time in the distance. Distance is not good for the relationship, so this type of couple does not usually last long.

12. The couple of interest

Although it is hard for us to accept it, some people are in pairs because of their interest . Whether for economic reasons, for getting papers or for not being alone. As sad as it may seem, they even get married. It is a way of understanding love in which this sensation has an instrumental purpose.

13. The madly in love

There are some couples who escape their love to the four winds, who are hanging all day their photos on social networks and spend 24 hours together. If they go out with friends, they are always on top of each other "smooching nonstop." These couples can not spend a single moment the one without the other because they are madly in love .

14. Those in the open relationship

Many couples are classic, however, there are exceptions. Some are liberal couples, so they have a different way of thinking than traditional couples. While many would think that sleeping with others is a betrayal and an infidelity, the liberal couples think that for the health of the couple, they should be introducing other actors in intimate relationships. Have you heard about polyamorous relationships?


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