Consummate love is the complete form of love, representing the ideal relationship toward which many people strive but which apparently few achieve. Sternberg cautions that maintaining a consummate love may be even harder than achieving it. He stresses the importance of translating the components of love into action.
Additionally, consummate love is seemingly the type of love that most people aim to find (Sternberg, 1986). Outside of romantic interests, an example of consummate love can be found in many parents' love for their children, often dubbed "unconditional love" (Sternberg, 1986).
Consummate Love: Intimacy, passion, and commitment are present in consummate love. This is often the ideal type of love. The couple shares passion; the spark has not died, and the closeness is there. They feel like best friends as well as lovers and they are committed to staying together.
In order to develop consummate love, the most important side of the triangle is Intimacy (The friendship aspect of the relationship which includes closeness, connectedness, and trust). Without strong feelings of trust and connectedness, a couple stands little chance of developing and sustaining consummate love.
These three components are intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment. Each component manifests a different aspect of love.
Consummate love may not be permanent. For example, if passion is lost over time, it may change into companionate love. The balance among Sternberg's three aspects of love is likely to shift through the course of a relationship.
Consummate love is the most satisfying kind of adult relation because it combines all pieces of the triangle into this one type of love. It is the ideal kind of relationship. These kinds of relationships can be found over long periods of time or idealistic relationships found in movies.
“Romantic Love” requires intimacy and passion where as “Consummate Love”, considered the deepest and most rare type of relationship, requires all three dimensions to be present.
According to Sternberg, consummate love may be harder to maintain than it is to achieve, as the components of love must be put into action. Without behavior and expression, passion is lost and love may revert back to the companionate type.
“Empty love is commitment without intimacy or passion.”
In the context of marriage, consummation means the actualization of marriage. It is the first act of sexual intercourse after marriage between a husband and wife. Consummation is particularly relevant under canon law, where failure to consummate a marriage is a ground for divorce or an annulment.
The three types of love are the first love, the intense love, and the unconditional love. Ahead, we're breaking down the meaning of each and what you typically learn from each stage of love.
They're no legal requirements for marriage after the ceremony in most states. A few states require consummation of the marriage through sexual relations, but that's not the norm. Most states consider the two married once the ceremony ends.
The three loves that she came up with are the following: Lust, Passion, and Commitment. These three loves occur in different parts of the brain and occur independently from each other. For instance, you can be “in lust” with someone but have no perceived commitment to them (e.g., one night stands).
“Romantic love,” the kind that is characterized by “intensity, engagement and sexual interest” can last a lifetime. Neuroscientists have even discovered that the brains of couples who experience this kind of love can keep firing for each other the same way they did when they first met even 20 or so years later.
Long-Term Commitment: Companionate love is marked by a long-lasting and enduring commitment to each other. Deep Intimacy: People who share compassionate love are able to share every aspect of themselves with each other.
The purest form of love is selflessness.
One thing is for sure — it doesn't mean your relationship lacks love, says Jennifer Freed, PhD, marriage and family therapist in private practice in Santa Barbara, Calif. She estimates that about 5 to 7 percent of the couples she sees in her practice are perfectly happy in their sexless marriages.
According to one study, approximately 15 percent of married couples are sexless: Spouses haven't had sex with each other in the past six months to one year. I was once in a sexless relationship.
The purpose of the ritual was to establish the consummation of the marriage, either by actually witnessing the couple's first sexual intercourse or symbolically, by leaving before consummation. It symbolized the community's involvement in the marriage.
Consummate, which derives from the Latin verb consummare (meaning "to sum up" or "to finish"), has been used as an adjective in English since the 15th century.
After a couple enters into a marriage, it is presumed that they would live together and would consummate their wedding, or engage in sexual intercourse.