Why love languages could be holding you back (and what to look for instead)
I’m acts of service”; “I’m a words of affirmation girlie!”; “Physical touch for me…”
Welcome to the world of “love languages”, where listing how you receive devotion is as easily reeled off as your current favourite Netflix series or star sign.
If you’re not well versed in this phenomenon, looking at people’s dating profiles can feel a little like you’ve stumbled into some kind of secret society or cult. It’s only fully entered the mainstream lexicon in the last few years, but the shorthand for how we express and receive love is now as ubiquitous as people saying they’re looking for their “partner in crime”, or following the classic dating app prompt “don’t hate me if I…” with the words “put pineapple on a pizza [crying laughing face emoji]”. (IYKYK.) But could the gospel according to love languages actually be holding us back when it comes to romantic relationships?
If you’ve managed to miss this latest theory of life, the universe and everything, it runs thus: there are five main “love languages”, and apparently most of us
