"Valentine's Day is out there with fire, arguing about who forgot what, and pretending not to look at who clicked on your Instagram story. Every year, in a big way, the day reminds us that we are all still very committed to love, maybe even irrationally so."
"According to several researchers, February 14 affects the way we perceive our romantic partners, and at times, in ways we wish it didn't. Morse and Neuberg (2004) discovered that the holiday can have an overwhelming influence on how we evaluate the health and stability of our romantic relationships. For many of us, when this day approaches, we start to think of ways to reaffirm how much we love our significant other, while some of us rehearse the "It's me, not you" speech."
"Although the day can be a very confusing holiday with glitter everywhere and the pressure to eat a prix fixé meal, it does provide us with an opportunity to have some brief moments of clarity in our romantic life; most of us would prefer those moments of clarity not come with the prix-fixe menu or the extra box of chocolates."
Romance functions through rituals and symbolic acts that create shared meaning and deepen emotional bonds. Valentine's Day evokes both dread and joy while reinforcing commitment and shaping perceptions of partners. The holiday can distort evaluations of relationship health and prompt either reaffirmation or breakup rehearsals. Pressure around rituals — dinners, roses, chocolates, performative gestures — produces cultural choreography of relationships and brief moments of clarity. Romance adapts across cultures and persists through humor, vulnerability, and symbolic exchanges. Enduring love often blends playfulness, openness, and meaningful rituals to strengthen connection and sustain long-term bonds.
Read at Psychology Today
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