We all relate. We cannot be "out" of a relationship- even with a person we 'hate'. The act or thought of hating is a process of relating.

Stages of a relationship.

1) Contact:
a) Uncertainty reduction - through eye contact, identification, opening disclosure, etc.
b) Perceptual - notice how a person looks at the other and their body language.
c) Interactional cues - nodding, maintaining eye contact, etc.
d) Invitational - encouraging the relationship (e.g. asking if they want to meet up later for coffee)
e) Avoidance strategies - if one person discloses and the other does not, minimal response, lack of eye contact, etc.
2) Involvement
a) Feelers - hints or questions (ex. asking about family)
b) Intensifying strategies - further the relationship (ex. meeting old friend, bringing the other to meet family, becoming more affectionate, etc.)
c) Public - seen in public together often (ex. if in a romantic relationship, may be holding hands)
3) Intimacy -very close, may have exchanged some sort of personal belonging or something that represents further commitment. (ex. may be a promise ring in a romantic relationship or a friendship necklace symbolizing two people are best friends)
4) Deterioration - things start to fall apart. In a romantic relationship, after six months, people are out of what is sometimes referred to as the "honeymoon stage" and start to notice flaws. The way this is dealt with determines the fate of the relationship.

Romantic love can be returned or unrequited. In the former case, the mutual expressions of love can lead to marriage or to the establishment of a permanent relationship, which in most cases will include passionate sexual love. Where the love is one-sided (unrequited), the result can be damaging to the esteem and/or the psychological welfare of the spurned lover.
One aspect of romantic love is the randomness of the encounters which lead to love. It may be for this reason that some in Western society have historically emphasized romantic love far more than other cultures in which arranged marriages are the tradition. However, the globalization of Western culture has spread Western ideas about love and romance.
Romantic love became a recognized passion in the Middle Ages, when in some cases insurmountable barriers of morality or convention separated the lovers. The effect of physical attraction and impossibility of intimacy resulted in an excessive regard of the beloved as extremely precious. Winning the love, or at least the attention, of the beloved, motivated great efforts of many kinds, such as poetry, song or feats of arms.

Properties of romantic love purported by Western culture include:
* It must take you by surprise (the result of a random encounter).
* It cannot be easily controlled.
* It is not overtly (initially at least) predicated on a desire for sex as a physical act.
* If requited it may be the basis for a lifelong commitment.

While romantic love as discussed above is a dream of many, some claim that such love as is depicted in books and movies rarely, if ever, occurs. They point to the modern practice of dating, where often the goal is to have sexual intercourse as soon as possible instead of building a lasting relationship. Often, the rigorous demands of careers in the modern world rob people of the time to find such ideal companions, and mental disorders such as social anxiety disorder prevent people from approaching others. In addition, the high prevalence of divorce in western society may be an additional deterrent for individuals seeking long-term, romantic relationships with the possibility of marriage.

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