The idea of the language of love is that each person expresses his emotions in different ways: physical touches, buying gifts, compliments and otherwise. And understanding this language will help to keep the relationship strong.
Research by scientists from Poland and the USA shed light on the importance of the so-called “language of love”. A survey of 100 heterosexual couples who freely use “love languages” among themselves, without fear of misunderstanding, showed a higher level of relationships and sexual satisfaction. The opposite effect is also reported: if the partners are constrained in the expression of the language of love, then the level of relations falls.
Types of love languages
The five main languages of love, outlined by author and talk show host Gary Chapman in a book published in the early 1990s, are words of support, quality time spent, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. Each person can lean towards one language more strongly than the other, which should be taken into account by the individual’s partner.
Researchers suggest that women may notice the use (or lack of use) of love languages more often than men. “Perhaps men are more focused on fulfilling a social role consisting in a committed relationship than on a certain gentle behavior, whereas women demand more visible signs of love from their partner,” the scientific article states.
Features of the language of love
The volunteers ranged in age from 17 to 58 and lived together from 6 months to 24 years. The researchers found no correlation between the duration of a relationship and whether people knew their partner’s love language. That is, more time does not necessarily help in figuring out the preferences of another person. And although in this case the focus was on heterosexual couples, the researchers believe that their results are likely to be similar for others.