Love and Addiction: The Importance of Commitment

Abstract

The bilaterally monopolistic nature of relationships between part- ners, combined with the addictive nature of love, which represents the emotion people feel during the course of a relationship, results in love growth when re- lationships are based on commitment. However, in relationships with less than perfect commitment, love will wither, and potentially die. In this paper, the path of love through a relationship is examined under the assumption that love is addictive and that partners may or may not be able to commit to a relationship. The differences in the results suggest that cohabiting partners may, by their very lack of commitment at the outset, be unsuited to successful marriages.Addiction, Commitment