Module 05 · Understanding Love理解爱情
The Triangular Theory of Love爱情三角理论
Overview 概述
The breakdown of passionate and companionate love is one of the most frequently used taxonomies for studying love. However, it is not the only one.
爱情的激情和伴侣之爱的分解是研究爱情最常用的分类法之一。然而，它并非唯一。
The Triangular Theory 三角理论
Another way of conceptualizing love is the triangular theory of love (Sternberg, 1986). This theory suggests that there are three dimensions that determine the type of love present in a relationship: intimacy, passion, and commitment. During our discussion about passionate and companionate love, we talked about passion, a drive state that leads people to pursue romantic and sexual relationships, and intimacy, a state in which two people feel a deep degree of closeness to each other. Unlike passion and intimacy, which both have strong emotional components, psychologist Robert Sternberg’s conceptualization of commitment is that it’s a belief—in particular, the belief that the relationship will be long-lasting or permanent, regardless of any challenges it may face.
另一种理解爱情的方式是爱情三角理论（Sternberg，1986）。该理论认为，有三维决定着关系中存在的爱情类型：亲密、激情和承诺。在我们讨论激情和伴侣爱情时，我们谈论了激情，这是一种驱动力状态，使人们追求浪漫和性关系，以及亲密，这是一种两个人感到彼此之间有深刻亲近感的状态。与激情和亲密不同，它们都具有强烈的情感成分，心理学家 Robert Sternberg 对承诺的理解是，它是一种信念——特别是，相信关系将会是长期或永久的，无论它可能面临任何挑战。
Based on its focus on the familiar underlying attributes of passion and intimacy, the triangular theory of love obviously shares a great deal with the previously described conceptualizations of passionate (passion-based) and companionate (intimacy-based) love. However, Sternberg argues that various configurations of intimacy, passion, and commitment can result in the experience of one of seven different flavors of love. (He calls the absence of these three components “nonlove.”)
基于其对激情和亲密感等熟悉的基本属性的聚焦，爱情三角理论显然与之前描述的激情（基于激情）和伴侣（基于亲密感）的爱情概念有诸多相似之处。然而，斯腾伯格认为，亲密、激情和承诺的不同组合可以导致体验到七种不同口味的爱情。（他将这三个成分的缺失称为“非爱”。）
The following figure, The Triangular Theory of Love, represents the three dimensions or attributes of a relationship as the three corners of a triangle, with the seven types of love or friendship positioned based on which components they possess and which components they lack. Note that nonlove (consisting of a lack of intimacy, passion, and commitment) is not pictured. A description of the relationship between the components and the types of love is included in the figure caption.
以下图示，爱情三角理论，表示关系的三个维度或属性，作为三角形的三个角，七种爱情或友谊类型根据它们所拥有的和所缺乏的成分进行定位。请注意，非爱情（包括缺乏亲密、激情和承诺）未在图中展示。组件与爱情类型之间的关系描述包含在图注中。
The Triangular Theory of Love 爱情三角理论
*Note. *The type of love experienced is determined by people’s level of intimacy, passion, and commitment. Relationships with only intimacy are friendships. Relationships with both intimacy and commitment are companionate love. Relationships consisting of intimacy and passion are romantic love. Relationships with intimacy, commitment, and passion are consummate love, also known as complete love. Relationships that consist of passion only are infatuated love. Relationships consisting of just passion and commitment are fatuous love, and relationships with just commitment are empty love. Note that the three attributes of relationships are shown in white. Types of relationships are depicted in italics
注意。所体验的爱情类型由人们的亲密程度、激情和承诺水平决定。只有亲密关系的为友谊。既有亲密又有承诺的关系为伴侣之爱。由亲密和激情组成的关系为浪漫之爱。由亲密、承诺和激情组成的关系为完美之爱，也称完全之爱。只有激情的关系为迷恋之爱。只有激情和承诺的关系为愚蠢之爱，只有承诺的关系为空洞之爱。请注意，关系的三个属性以白色显示。关系类型以斜体表示.
It’s worth noting several things about the types of love described by Sternberg (1986). First, although the three attributes of relationships are described as either being present or absent, in reality, each can exist on a continuum. You can have a relationship with some intimacy and a lot of passion, which will feel different than a relationship with some passion and a lot of intimacy. Going along with this point, multiple types of love can exist simultaneously within a relationship, depending on the relative levels of each of the attributes. Finally, the level of each of the attributes isn’t static, meaning that relationships can (and, in their natural course, often do) readily change from one type of love to another.
值得注意 Sternberg（1986）描述的爱情类型中的几个方面。首先，尽管关系的三种属性被描述为存在或不存在，但在现实中，每种属性都可以存在于一个连续体上。你可以拥有亲密感较少而激情很多的关系，这会与激情较少而亲密感很多的关系感觉不同。顺着这个观点，在关系中可以同时存在多种类型的爱情，这取决于每种属性相对的水平。最后，每种属性的水平不是静态的，这意味着关系可以（并且，在其自然过程中，通常确实）轻易地从一种爱情类型转变为另一种类型。
Reflection Activity 反思活动
Consider an important relationship in your life. Where does this relationship fall on the triangle depicted in the triangular theory of love? Has the type of love you’ve experienced in this relationship changed? If so, consider which of the three components of love could have changed to lead to the change in love. If the type of love you’ve experienced hasn’t changed, go through this exercise again, considering a relationship where your type of love has changed.
考虑你生活中一个重要的关系。这个关系在爱情三角理论所描述的三角形中处于什么位置？你在这段关系中体验到的爱情类型是否发生了变化？如果是的话，考虑是哪三个爱情要素中的哪一个可能发生了变化，导致了爱情类型的变化。如果你在这段关系中体验到的爱情类型没有发生变化，请再次进行这个练习，考虑一个你的爱情类型已经发生变化的关系。