#relationship-science

#relationship-science

Do you know your preferred love language(s)? In my experience, this question seems to be asked more and more often when couples are first getting to know each other-or when they've landed in couples therapy. Gary Chapman's book The 5 Love Languages is a longstanding bestseller for a reason-it simply and intuitively organizes the ways romantic partners demonstrate care for each other. Words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, gifts, and acts of service: we have all noticed what these different behaviors mean to us when our partners do them, and vice versa.

You've been together for a while now, and it feels right. Really right. The sleepovers have become more frequent, you've got a drawer at their place, and you find yourself daydreaming about Sunday mornings together without the rush to get home. The question keeps surfacing in those quiet moments: Should we move in together? It's exciting, isn't it? But also terrifying. Because while your heart might be saying "absolutely," there's this little voice wondering if you're truly ready for this next step.

Emotional momentum can be mistaken for emotional safety, leading to deep investments in relationships based on fleeting excitement rather than genuine compatibility.