A new study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science examined potential drawbacks of intimate relationships.
While intimate relationships come with numerous benefits, like emotional support, companionship, and sexual satisfaction, there are also various perceived disadvantages. From an evolutionary perspective, the behavioral adaptations in intimate relationships were selected to increase fitness by facilitating child-rearing, support, and sharing of resources. However, aspects of intimate relationships that were once advantageous in our ancestral environments may no longer enhance fitness in the modern world.
Researchers Menelaos Apostolou and colleagues conducted two complementary studies to investigate this gap.
Study 1 involved 202 Greek-speaking participants aged 18 and older, recruited from various social media platforms and university networks. Participants completed a two-part questionnaire on Google Forms, first listing as many disadvantages of intimate relationships as they could think of, and then providing demographic information (e.g., sex, age, relationship status, relationship history). This data was independently processed by two postgraduate students who compiled a list of disadvantages, for a final collaborative list of 94 distinct disadvantages identified across participants.
Study 2 was likewise conducted online using Google Forms, involving 525 Greek-speaking participants. Participants were presented with the 94 disadvantages identified in Study 1, rating the importance of each disadvantage on a 5-point scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important. Participants provided demographic information as in Study 1.
The researchers conducted an exploratory factor analysis to categorize the 94 disadvantages of Study 1 into 11 broader factors or major disadvantages, including less freedom, making compromises, emotional cost, fights and tensions, routine, abusive behaviors, fear of cheating, economic dependency, obligatory monogamy, reduced focus on career, and worry about partner’s health.
These were then grouped into three key domains: conflicts and fights, compromises, and emotional burden. The most significant factors included less freedom, making compromises, emotional cost, fights and tensions, and abusive behaviors.
Women rated abusive behaviors, economic dependency, and less freedom as more critical disadvantages compared to men. Older participants considered making compromises more burdensome than younger ones. Single participants generally rated several disadvantages higher than those in relationships, suggesting they experience a heightened sensitivity to these drawbacks.
A limitation to this research is the reliance on self-report data, which may be subject to various biases such as social desirability or inaccurate recall.
Overall, this research highlights that while intimate relationships offer significant benefits, they also encompass notable disadvantages, which vary in perception based on demographic factors.
The study. “Unveiling the Shadows: An Exploratory Analysis of Perceived Disadvantages in Intimate Relationships”, was authored by Menelaos Apostolou, Eleni Iniati, Andrea Charalambous, Alexia Zalaf, and Antonios Kagialis.
