ABSTRACT
What gives? That trendy phrase is a legitimate question asked by those who have experienced or are experiencing falling out of romantic love (FORL). That question is also uttered by professionals who strive to help such individuals and couples.
When it comes to relationship dissatisfaction and divorce, loss of love is listed as a main cause. In spite of this, FORL has rarely been researched. The topic is almost non-existent in professional literature and training programs. Again, the question arises, “What gives?” The goals of Chapter 2 are two-fold: 1) To outline the reasons why FORL has not received attention from scholars and practitioners; 2) to identify how FORL is different than other reasons for divorce and relationship dissatisfaction.
In Chapter 2, the reader acquires some answers to the question, “What gives?” One reason why FORL has not been studied is because many scientists feared that researching love relationships was impossible or would take the mystery and enjoyment out of the experience. FORL is different from the primary reasons listed for marital dissatisfaction. It is a unique construct representing an accumulation of various individual and relational circumstances and events, associated thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
