Why do people have relationships?

[Pinu7]

Other than sex, children, and legal stuff(if married), of course.

 

[JasonRox]

I'm guessing you live in a cave.

 

[nickdk]

I'm guessing you live in a cave.

hahahahaha!

nahh but really, they're fun...for awhile ;)

 

[JasonRox]

You have two accounts?

 

[27Thousand]

I'm guessing you live in a cave.

I'm thinking the same thing. Why would one not want one?

 

[rootX]

I'm thinking the same thing. Why would one not want one?

because you don't want any more responsibilities ...

 

[arildno]

Other than sex, children, and legal stuff(if married), of course.

Whatever have the Romans ever done for us, apart from a stable government, aquaducts, roads, wine and a million other wares we now can get hold of??

Or something like that..

 

[zoobyshoe]

Or something like that..

Nail on the head, IMO.

 

[fluidistic]

I'm sure a relationship makes happy many humans. It might be another reason.

 

[Evo]

I'm sure a relationship makes happy many humans. It might be another reason.

Fear of being alone and financial reasons are probably near the top. The OP didn't stipulate "healthy relationships".

 

[fluidistic]

Fear of being alone and financial reasons are probably near the top. The OP didn't stipulate "healthy relationships".

ahah yes. I didn't think about that, but you're right on this.

 

[f95toli]

Other than sex, children, and legal stuff(if married), of course.

Because we are wired that way. Humans are social animals and although one should be careful about talking about "natural" in this context it is certainly true that our brains are "programmed" to look for companionship, and that at a rather basic level (meaning NOT trying to be in a relationship probably requires more involvment from our higher brain functions than being in one).
One might equally well ask why wolves live in packs, or ants in colonies.

 

[rootX]

Various cultures have had their own theories on the origin of marriage. One example may lie in a man's need for assurance as to paternity of his children. He might therefore be willing to pay a bride price or provide for a woman in exchange for exclusive sexual access.[21] Legitimacy is the consequence of this transaction rather than its motivation. In Comanche society, married women work harder, lose sexual freedom, and do not seem to obtain any benefit from marriage.[22] But nubile women are a source of jealousy and strife in the tribe, so they are given little choice other than to get married. "In almost all societies, access to women is institutionalized in some way so as to moderate the intensity of this competition."[23] In English common law, a marriage was a voluntary contract by a man and a woman, where by agreement they choose to become husband and wife.[24] Edvard Westermarck proposed that "the institution of marriage has probably developed out of a primeval habit".[25]

something interesting from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage#cite_ref-20

I don't think there are any particular reasons other than making sure that children are raised well which require equivalent effort from both parties. (I believe there are some animals where both mom and dad put effort in raising the kids while in some only one have to take care.. In some cases, male will kill the children to start new relantionship)

 

[GeorginaS]

In some cases, male will kill the children to start new relantionship)

Well that was helpful.

 

[rootX]

Well that was helpful.

http://www.lionresearch.org/current_docs/6.pdf

 

[GeorginaS]

http://www.lionresearch.org/current_docs/6.pdf

I didn't say it wasn't true. It's just not helpful to a discussion about why humans get involved in relationships to tell us that male lions will kill cubs so the female lion can mate again. Are they going to buy a condo together? No? Then? How is this helpful information?

 

[rootX]

I didn't say it wasn't true. It's just not helpful to a discussion about why humans get involved in relationships to tell us that male lions will kill cubs so the female lion can mate again. Are they going to buy a condo together? No? Then? How is this helpful information?

Because forming relationships or living in societies is not unique to the humans only and hence I believe you need to look beyond humans to answer the OP question. Killing cubs is not directly related and I agree.

 

[JasonRox]

Um... you develop relationships whether you like it or not.

You talk to a cashier while buying something. You have a relationship. The relationship is defined to be that you're both relatively strangers to each other but you have met.

My relationship with those on PF are basically defined as online friends.

To not want ANY relationship must imply you want to live in a cave. And to not know the benefits of a relationship must imply you LIVED in a cave.

If you mean relationshipt to MEAN monogamous relationship with a partner, then that's a whole other question!

 

[rootX]

Um... you develop relationships whether you like it or not.

You talk to a cashier while buying something. You have a relationship. The relationship is defined to be that you're both relatively strangers to each other but you have met.

My relationship with those on PF are basically defined as online friends.

To not want ANY relationship must imply you want to live in a cave. And to not know the benefits of a relationship must imply you LIVED in a cave.

If you mean relationshipt to MEAN monogamous relationship with a partner, then that's a whole other question!

I think OP is talking about marriages or long term relationships as he mentioned children/legal.

 

[JasonRox]

I think OP is talking about marriages or long term relationships as he mentioned children/legal.

You can have children and not be monogamous or even living in the same house as the person you had children with and STILL be in a relationship.

If you're going to discuss whether or not to be in a relationship, we must be clear on what kind of relationship we are talking about. So he's talking about a traditional monogamous relationship where you live together and have kids, and save money on taxes. And do the typical things you see on TV, like Everybody Loves Raymond?

If that's the case, then I have no idea why someone would want that!

 

[rootX]

You can have children and not be monogamous or even living in the same house as the person you had children with and STILL be in a relationship.

If you're going to discuss whether or not to be in a relationship, we must be clear on what kind of relationship we are talking about. So he's talking about a traditional monogamous relationship where you live together and have kids, and save money on taxes. And do the typical things you see on TV, like Everybody Loves Raymond?

If that's the case, then I have no idea why someone would want that!

Neither me. I cannot do those kind of typical things.

 

[BobG]

I'm sure a relationship makes happy many humans. It might be another reason.

Fear of being alone and financial reasons are probably near the top. The OP didn't stipulate "healthy relationships".

Unhealthy relationships can make as many humans as unhealthy relationships.

And I guess whichever preference (relationships or no relationships) is most likely to make many humans will wind up being the most common preference.

But it does make one wonder ... which is more likely to make many humans - healthy relationships or unhealthy relationships?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Fear of being alone and financial reasons are probably near the top. The OP didn't stipulate "healthy relationships".

Has anyone wondered what percent of relationships are really happy and healthy? I would guess it is actually quite low.

 

[BobG]

Has anyone wondered what percent of relationships are really happy and healthy? I would guess it is actually quite low.

Emotionally or physically?

Over half of all Americans will have a sexually transmitted disease at some time in their life. http://www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_statistics.cfm

25% of women and 8% of men are raped and/or physically abused by their partner. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181867.pdf (executive summary).

I'm not sure how meaningful those statistics are since most people wind up having more than one relationship in their lifetime. I imagine being involved in at least one unhealthy relationship in a person's lifetime could be pretty common - common enough that recognizing and getting out of unhealthy relationships could be a key skill to learn while young.

I'm not quite sure that a divorce automatically means the relationship was unhealthy - for the same reason that I wouldn't say every girlfriend/boyfriend a person ever had that didn't result in marriage must have been an unhealthy relationship.

 

[JasonRox]

Emotionally or physically?

Over half of all Americans will have a sexually transmitted disease at some time in their life. http://www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_statistics.cfm

25% of women and 8% of men are raped and/or physically abused by their partner. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/181867.pdf (executive summary).

I'm not sure how meaningful those statistics are since most people wind up having more than one relationship in their lifetime. I imagine being involved in at least one unhealthy relationship in a person's lifetime could be pretty common - common enough that recognizing and getting out of unhealthy relationships could be a key skill to learn while young.

I'm not quite sure that a divorce automatically means the relationship was unhealthy - for the same reason that I wouldn't say every girlfriend/boyfriend a person ever had that didn't result in marriage must have been an unhealthy relationship.

My aunt just got divorced. Definitely still healthy. One wants to move in the city and the other in the fields. They split. No argument at all and you can tell. Good for them. Great model for their kids, who are teens right now.

How is having an STD relevant to bad relationships?

 

[BobG]

How is having an STD relevant to bad relationships?

The comment was about healthy relationships, not good/bad relationships. I think obtaining a disease from a relationship pretty much automatically qualifies as an unhealthy relationship.

A good/bad relationship might not even be that relevant to healthy/unhealthy relationships since I think how the couple resolve a bad relationship is a better indicator of their emotional health than whether they have a good/bad relationship.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I don't know why people have relationships, but for myself, I have too many. I was living the life of Tiger, but it all came crashing down. Mistress 3 found out about mistress 5 and that's when the troubles began. The real disaster happened when I was following this nice piece of fluff home. She had all the right curves in all the right places, just the kind I like, if you catch my drift. Imagine my chagrin to find out it was my wife. I'm down to one relationship for the duration.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I don't know why people have relationships, but for myself, I have too many. I was living the life of Tiger, but it all came crashing down. Mistress 3 found out about mistress 5 and that's when the troubles began. The real disaster happened when I was following this nice piece of fluff home. She had all the right curves in all the right places, just the kind I like, if you catch my drift. Imagine my chagrin to find out it was my wife. I'm down to one relationship for the duration.

This is set in the '50's, right? Next, a corpse is discovered and Jimmy spends the rest of the book tracking down the killer to clear his name.

 

[JasonRox]

The comment was about healthy relationships, not good/bad relationships. I think obtaining a disease from a relationship pretty much automatically qualifies as an unhealthy relationship.

A good/bad relationship might not even be that relevant to healthy/unhealthy relationships since I think how the couple resolve a bad relationship is a better indicator of their emotional health than whether they have a good/bad relationship.

I don't think that qualifies as unhealthy either. If so, then someone who contracts the flu from their partner should be considered unhealthy as well. Most STD's are curable, and often STD are acquired by just about anyone and has no relevance to promiscuity.

Just about anyone can be carrying an STD from a past partner and not even know it, and enter in a new one and have the unfortunate be discovered. That doesn't qualify as unhealthy in my books at all. Sometimes symptoms won't show until 5 years into a great marriage. Seriously, to say STD imply unhealthy is rather shallow in my opinion.

 

[BobG]

That's a valid point.

A person could get tested once a year at their annual doctor's visit, though. Going years without knowing they have a STD is a sign of an unhealthy lifestyle, or at least a sign they don't pay much attention to their health (although how many younger people without health insurance actually get physicals).

It's not unreasonable to expect a partner to have gotten themselves tested in between relationships, though.