Romance is the expressive and pleasurable feeling from an emotional attraction towards another person associated with love.
In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's strong romantic love or one's deep and strong emotional desires to connect with another person intimately or romantically. Historically, the term "romance" originates with the medieval ideal of chivalry as set out in its chivalric romance literature.
Humans have a natural inclination to form bonds with one another through social interactions, be it through verbal communication or nonverbal gestures. With some individuals, these social interactions can span beyond what one would typically view as a platonic relationship. Positive romantic relationships are a crucial part of society in that not only do these relations affect those that are in participation, but they can also have an influence on those that are in close vicinity.[1]
Sometimes, what may be viewed as tradition does not allow for as much of a range that is realistically present among those that are aiming for a healthy positive relationship. Some traditional approaches place certain responsibilities or unsaid assumptions on each party, where each person is expected to act a certain way simply because that's how it's supposed to be. With positive psychology, there seems to be a push for a more equal division of responsibilities regardless of sex, gender, or any other circumstances. Each individual can learn about love on more than one level; there is an acknowledgment of the word having multiple meanings, as well as relationships having multiple outcomes, as a result of previous attachment patterns in other social domains (i.e. parenting).
This article uses Creative Commons licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).