The emotional intimacy dimension of love is best characterized by
feeling love for someone rather than being "in love" with
them. The emotional intimacy dimension focuses on liking, friendship,
trust and feelings of emotional closeness that result from being able
to share one's innermost thoughts and feelings with a
partner. Intimacy is achieved through a process by which one comes
to know one's partner through increasing levels of self disclosure of
one's thoughts and feelings. During the early stages of a relationship
when the participants are still getting to know one another, strong
passionate emotions may result from increasingly intimate levels of
disclosure. Later, after the partners have gotten to know each other
well, feelings of closeness, friendship, warmth, and caring will tend
to predominate. For emotional intimacy to flourish, both partners
must be understanding, open, supportive, and must feel like they can
talk about anything without fear of being rejected. As intimacy
progresses, the partners will find that they share some degree of
overlap in their values and beliefs about life; however, there will
be differences in opinion to some degree as well. For intimacy to
develop to its fullest, it is essential that both partners be able
to forgive and to show compassion and kindness toward each other,
especially when they disagree or make mistakes. Mutual respect and
trust are essential to this process.
The Love Test, Copyright © 1996, Betty Harris and Jim Glover.
