Why Romanticized Love is Destroying Relationships

Divorce rates are currently at 40-50% in the US and even higher for subsequential marriages. Marriage satisfaction is 58%, so something is not working. What has gone wrong? Love is the top reason for people getting married in the USA. But where did this come from? We have to start with a history lesson, so buckle up. Throughout history, marriage used to be an arrangement created to promote the family unit's survival and safety. The industrial age changed all that. As safety increased and resources became independent of the tribal collective to survive, individuality took form. They didn't rely on the tribe or family to survive, so the concept of marriage for safety stopped making sense.   Marriage used to be seen as a duty, not something you did for personal fulfillment or emotional satisfaction. The new economic realities of the 19th century merged with the ideas that sprung from the Enlightenment about individual rights and the pursuit of happiness, and the result was Romanticism. The new ideal was to get married for love. Love was to provide the ever after happiness and feeling of meaning, worthiness, and value that individualization had torn apart when our sense of tribal communities fell apart. With a lack of social meaning and purpose, we looked for a partner to fill that gap and make us complete. It wasn't until the relatively recent 150 years ago that the ever-popular "happily ever after" idea was born. So, what's w...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: featured happiness psychology relationships self-improvement love marriage relationship advice self improvement Source Type: blogs