Rezina Tuladhar (NAA Relationship Counselor)
Intimacy is just as important as passion and physical attraction in romantic relationships. Commitment also plays a crucial role. For many teens, intimacy is just as important as passion and physical attraction in romantic relationships. Commitment also plays a crucial role.
Teens’ experience of sexuality has been the subject of numerous studies. However, much less research has addressed the way in which they experience love and relationships. Most teens have their first experiences with love and relationships between the ages of 12 and 15. About half of the 12 and 13-year-olds and two thirds of the 14 to 17-year-olds who participated in the study were currently or had been in a relationship. Does passion diminish with age? To compare the views of teens with adults, the study also included 1,432 adults between the ages of 18 and 88. Some 90% of the adults were currently or had been in a romantic relationship. The adult age groups (young, middle and older adults) did not differ in their views on commitment and intimacy in a relationship. The 18-to-29 age group placed more emphasis on passion. However, the passion experienced by the older adult age groups was only slightly lower.
‘Men and women – in both the adolescent and adult age groups – tended to view love and relationships in similar ways.’ Boys and men put slightly more emphasis on passion than girls and women, but the two sexes were identical in the importance they attached to commitment and intimacy–the ability to share feelings with their partner!!!