Long Lasting Relationships
Commitment at its Finest
How does someone know when their significant others love is authentic? Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love, consists of three components. One of the components is intimacy. Within intimacy there are two sub-sections, one of which is manifest intimacy. Guerrero explains that "Manifest intimacy refers to how people communicate affection and closeness to someone, such as disclosing intimate feelings to a partner or spending extra time together" (24). In the video clip, Toby shows a great amount of manifest intimacy as he makes breakfast for Spencer and looks out for her making sure that she eats. Toby also gets up to fill her cup even though Spencer was sitting just as close to the coffee pot. These signs show real love. It shows that he would do anything to make her happy. In the video, Toby also shows many signs of positivity which is one of the social maintenance behaviors. When one shows signs of positivity, they are "Making interactions pleasant and enjoyable" (25). Toby received a depressing text message from "A" saying, "Bet you miss her every day. Kisses -A". Spencer sees the reaction on his face when he receives this message so naturally she asks what is wrong. Toby stays positive about the situation trying to protect Spencer so she does not worry. It worked perfectly and they moved on thanks to Toby staying positive about everything. If that is not true love, then I do not know what is. |
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Citations for footnotes 24 and 25 can be found on the citation page under the topic Long Lasting Relationships.