4 Types Of Relationships

This article is from our print magazine issued April 1st 2022. To order a copy of the magazine please do so here.

No matter how you spin it, relationships are crucial to our well-being. Whether it’s a friendship, family member, significant other, or coworker, our network is a massive part of who we are and who we will become in the future.

Whether it’s your mom or a colleague, all of our relationships are integral to our quality of life. There are four types of relationships that we consistently maintain throughout our lives: family, friendship, romantic, and acquaintanceships. Keep reading to learn more about the four different types of relationships.

Family

For many of us, family comes first. Whether it is a parent, sibling, or child, these are the people with whom we share DNA. These folks are often our first relationships ever as a child, and our last surviving relationships as we reach old age.

Family helps us with personal growth when we are children, teaching us how to take care of ourselves, how to be kind, how to work towards goals, and how to be a good person. Providing love, support, and values to one another, families teach each other, help each other, and share happiness and sadness.

As we get older, this relationship transforms from being personal-growth centered, to being support-centered. As I have grown older, I have taken accountability for my personal growth, and as this transformation took place, my parents and siblings moved to more of a support role rather than a leadership role.

Friendship

As adults, friends are the family we choose for ourselves. While family is important, we all need some level of friendship from people outside of our bloodline. Friendship increases your sense of belonging, creates a higher purpose, boosts happiness, reduces stress, and most importantly, prevents loneliness and isolation.

While many of us don’t think that friendship is a necessity, it has been proved that friendship is critical to our mental and physical health. According to a study in 2010, people with solid friendships have half the risk of premature death than people who do not have strong friendships.

Romantic

Romantic relationships are essential to our livelihood and purpose throughout life. These kinds of relationships provide companionship, love, and comradery. In a marriage or long-term partnership, this kind of relationship is almost a mix of friendship and family, with an added spark.

While the beginning of romantic relationships usually involves chemistry and excitement, often called the honeymoon phase, this often fades over time. Sometimes, couples break up after this phase. Other times, the honeymoon phase is replaced by a more profound sense of companionship, when partners make a long-term commitment to one another. Those who make it to this stage will be rewarded with stability, comfort, partnership, and true love.

Research suggests that married couples live longer than those who are single. Many people think that this is because long-term partnerships give our lives a deeper sense of purpose and meaning, resulting in better health long-term.

Aquantainceships

Acquaintances are people we know, but not well enough to consider them friends. These can be coworkers, neighbors, our church community, your child’s teacher, or a friend of a friend. While many of us think that acquaintanceships are meaningless, they are actually very beneficial to our lives.

Because our acquaintances have a different network than we do, they are connected to many people and things we are unfamiliar with. These acquaintance relationships are responsible for lots of new information that we learn in our day-to-day lives. They connect us with a broader network, helping us to feel more anchored and knowledgeable about our communities and cities.

Our relationships with other humans keep us tethered to our lives and the earth. The people we are in relationship with remind us that we all belong to each other. From siblings to neighbors, the people in our circle are all important in different ways, yet they all help us connect to one another every day. So happy to share this with you loving folks. Keep loving & living.