Time and the Ability to Negotiate

Conclusion

Both assumptions of love and negotiation are necessary but not sufficient to “describe” intimate relationships. They are processual, too general, and nonspecific. Nonetheless, their combination allows us to classify Cluster B and C disorders of Axis II into a model that considers both love and negotiation as orthogonal dimensions. However, we need more specific models to cover the whole range of possible intimate relationships, functional and dysfunctional, to indicate especially what is exchanged in relationships and the content of what is really exchanged and shared between intimates and nonintimates.