Intimacy
could be defined as a journey, and it is not a tangible object. Intimacy takes
place in excess of time and also claimed to be continuously altering, and for
this reason, intimacy is not stagnant. Intimacy is also able to take a lot of
shapes. One of the shape in intimacy mentioned to be cognitive or rational
intimacy which is the condition where two person interchange their point of
view, share their thoughts or ideas, and also delight in the similarities as
well as the alterations among their thoughts. Hence, if they are able to do
this in a free, open and comfortable method, then they will able to become
relatively intimate in a rational area.
The form of intimacy that we will
discuss now is experiential intimacy which appears in the condition where
certain people work together in shared activities. This term could be a range
as of just a couple up to a group which contains of numbers of people as its
members. This form of intimacy is basically about allowing the skill to be
clarified and working or functioning together as a group. This type of intimacy
actually is not only about a vocal sharing of ideas or feelings, but
furthermore about the works or activities, as well as the feeling which occurs
from this connection. Experiential
intimacy has a lot more to do with sharing the everyday skills, practices, as
well as experiences in order to make the persons who involved in it become more
close to one another (Hewstone, Stroebe, & Jonas,
2016).
Intimacy has significant
importance in a strong relationship and recognizing the difficulties of other
peoples. The better understanding of physical and psychological hardships of other
helps in the growing relationship and developing stronger bonding with your
family friends and partners (Cbhs. com. au, 2014). The best example of
emotional intimacy is the family relationship indeed. Besides family, there is
a number of opportunities to develop an intimate relationship with others. The regional variation in the meaning of
intimacy is due to cultural expectation, cultural challenges, and trust factor
of the relationship (Marriage. com, 2019).
Emotional intimacy is basically
freedom of expression and an ability to express the feelings. The experience of
intimacy can be spiritual, intellectual, friendship domain and other
areas. Intimacy is somehow relational
condition, and it can be improved by the preferred method of building a
relationship and involving words in relationship such as appreciation,
practical performance, giving gifts, spending quality time, and having the
physical touch (Psychologytoday. com, 2016; Cbhs. com. au, 2014). Understanding of
other preferences is important. The effective relationship depends upon sharing
of desires, secrets, aspirations, dreams, feelings, process of becoming
vulnerable. Spending quality time together can improve emotional intimacy,
bring the trust conditions, and feeling of acceptance by others in the social
circle (Cbhs. com. au, 2014).
The level of intimacy can be
reflected by desperation to develop a strong relationship with friend circles,
belongingness, submission, and dedication. Improved intimacy helps to overcome
mitigating differences and insecurities. Emotional intimacy is a key to a sustainable
relationship with others (Psychologytoday. com, 2016). Intellectual
intimacy enables to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions about the featured
subjects. In a nutshell, intimacy can be considered as a parameter and pivotal
pillar to realize the importance of each other in the relationship (Cbhs. com. au, 2014). Physical, as well as emotional intimacy, is
important to keep the differences aside to have a strong and healthy
relationship.
Intimacy enables people to crave
the sustainable and long-term relationship that becomes quite possible with the
euphoric feelings. Intimacy is basically an art of relationship that how the
relationship is supported and sabotaged through different types of hidden
expectations (Cbhs. com. au, 2014). According to the analysis
data which delivered by the research regarding on the issues in relationship
and divorce, in the past 20 years, the intimate relationships are failing. The
culture of the bonded community defines a framework of emotional needs and
compound deprivation of intimacy (Cbhs. com. au, 2014).
The shift in general view from
past few years contribute to the new demand for intimacy in the productive life
and services enhances happiness and make the intimate relationship stronger.
Psychologists have strong believed that contemporary couple should have the
opportunity to express emotions and significance of each other in their life (Cbhs. com. au, 2014). In the case of a weak
relationship between friends, family, and other community members the feeling
of being betrayed by others increases and becomes relatively more overwhelming
instead of having strong relations in the community. The strong relations
increase happiness, trust, and productive life at work and services (Psychologytoday. com, 2016).
Working
on intimacy will require time as a main portion of intimacy is claimed to be
that it is social and relational, and it supposed to make the other people in
the relationship to be completely elaborate as well. Every single person is not
the same, and it would take us some time to figure out what is the ideal way of
constructing the intimacy among the group. It might consist of appreciation, giving
more valuable time to be together, giving rewards, carrying out concrete and
practical responsibilities, or also a mixture of these factors. Accepting for both
your own as well as other people preferences and try to work on those is considered
as a main technique in order to shape more confidence, trust, and also intimacy
in any relationship.
Hence,
it is fundamental to highlight here that intimacy is essential and for that, we
need to keep on working to make intimacy as a portion of a healthy and mutual
relationship. Social, family, as well as
work commitments, might able to get numbers of difficulties and obstacles on
the way, and in time, people might will feel detached within their relationships
with others. For this reason, intimacy,
indeed, plays an important role to maintain any relationships between human
beings (Neale, Mannix, & Mullen,
2010).
How intimacy affects those who take part in being vulnerable
Referring to the meaning in the dictionary,
being vulnerable could be defined as being liable, to being hurt either
emotionally or physically. Thus, when a vulnerable people enter into any
relationships which makes them have to interact with others, then usually their
vulnerable will be presented. Being vulnerable is quite closely related to the
feelings of worry or anxiety. The reason is that, when people start unable to
endure their vulnerability, then that will be the time when the anxiety takes
control. Being vulnerable means you could drop easily; it is when you are able
to see the best in other people. Being vulnerable means, you could get
emotionally involved easily since you provide yourself with the free will to
sense. Vulnerability is also defined as the condition when you could feel
comfortable to open up with other people.
Once intimacy makes a contact
with someone that claimed to be a vulnerable person, then it will give good
result as well as bad result. The good result is that people who likely being
vulnerable would be more care for other people that give intimacy. The reason
is as mentioned above, that being vulnerable is quite closely related with the
feelings of worry, and therefore, vulnerable people will feel worry if anyone
leaves them, neglected them, or even ignored them. Thus, they will give more
attention and more care for the intimacy which has created with other people (Cottam,
Mastors, Preston, & Dietz, 2010).
The bad result is obvious, the
vulnerable person will always feeling worried or anxiety, and they might will
always have the feeling of fear if anyone would leave them. Intimacy might able
to give more worry or anxiety to the vulnerable people and might also lead them
to become possessive as they want to keep their relationships with the people
that already made them become comfortable with intimacy.
In the other hand, intimacy is
considered as one main point which able to develop any relationship. And for
this reason, every so often, intimacy which made it to touch the vulnerable
people will help them to become more resilient and sheltered as well. In fact,
life, relationships, and of course, intimacy, will get better if we give a
space for vulnerability because being a human is also mean to be vulnerable. We
might will feel the numbers of anxiety or fear when we are going to build
intimacy in any relationships. However, that is acceptable if we understand
that intimacy requires us to become vulnerable and also have faith in others
even though there might be a chance that those people would able to disappoint
you anytime (Gitterman, 2014).
In simple words, intimacy will
affect the vulnerable people in the way that will able them to become more brave
to express their feelings, to speak out their opinion without having to worry
if anyone will reject them. This is due to the fact that intimacy will present
how others could able to respect you and also understand what desire that you
wanted.
Within a relationship in a small
group, every single member of the group develops confidence, trust, as well as
intimacy with their own step. So, in order to work on and maintain intimacy in
a small group, each member needs to open up their own step. It will definitely
take some time to make everyone feel comfortable to be completely open up to another
member of the group, and that is reasonable. And one point to be noted,
vulnerability is one thing that will actually support for every single person
to grow up and get closer to each other. When vulnerable persons got the touch of intimacy, then their
vulnerability will allow the other
members of the group to feel more convenient to be open up or free and direct
with their apprehensions, queries, faults and even blockades, which in the end
will lead for resilient, better, and also strengthen the performance of the
group as well (Noam & Fischer, 2013).
The strength of the relationships formed through intimacy/vulnerability
Intimacy
is a foundation stone of a decent combine relationship and assists for the
health as well as the comfort of every single member in a group. Within an
intimate relations, each member will able to reveal their personal characters
to another member, sharing out some portions of themselves which were usually
concealed from other people. In an ideal world, every single member is able to
accept other’s individual exposes with open-minded reception and constant the interest,
allure, validate each other by realizing that others are also have their own
thoughts, emotional state, and life experiences as well (Adams, 2007).
So
how would intimacy strengthen the relationships anyway?
The
features of strong relationships could be practiced in a different way across
various groups and could be appeared in dissimilar shape all through the
different cultures in whole over the world. But, the features of strong
relationships could be considered as the communications and interactions that
take place among the people and embedded in three general values, which are:
dignity, efficient communication, as well as the responsiveness of personality
and characteristics. When persons could learn to recognize and go after these
relational indicators, then not just it would improve their relationships. Instead,
they will also get the value as of the extensively sensed enhancements for the
rest of their lives.
The
persons who living in a group with intimate relationships will always aim to
respect another member in the group and will also feel that they are appreciated
and get the respect as a return for that. This consist of accepting and
knowledge of your own beliefs as well as values, stand up for all the things that
you have faith in, and finally, the capability to show those standards to other
persons. Dignity could be defined when the other members in the group are able
to understand your beliefs and also your values; then they will figure out to completely
understand why are those beliefs and values are quite essential to you.
People
who are living in a group with intimate relationship, they turn out to become
further alert of their abilities as well as their skills. For this reason, they
are strengthened to go for their ideas and objectives both individually and also
professionally in a term of work. The practice of go through the empowerment turns
out to be actually due to every single member are appreciated, respected, maintained,
and also motivated by other members in their intimate relationships within a
group. Plus, as each member measure their self-respect and also recognize what
exactly their goals in their lives, they would for all intents and purposes
become strengthened to create choices, to generate modification, and they also
turn out to become more assured and confident because they are come into
contact with the strong constructive characteristics in these intimate
relationships in a group (Fletcher, Simpson, Campbell,
& Overall, 2012).
Intimacy is also defined as a
close, at ease with and also an exclusive connection obtainable among humans,
both in emotionally or physically. A resilient relationship is able to survive
on both practices of intimacy which have developed and progressed in excess of
time, prospering on a deliberate relief of trust and self-confession. A
deficiency of intimacy might able to provide problems for a couple or a group
for the most part since intimacy is considered as an essential role in building
a relationship. An intimate group is define where
a number of members identify and got identified by the other members of the
group. Thus, the fact that we are living in
a world where relationship-based teamwork is considered to be central and
dominant. Therefore, intimacy definitely will strengthen the relationship in a
group since intimacy will make each member getting close and respect each
other, and thus, it will result in a strong relation between one another to
create a high level productivity from the group itself.
The awareness of identifying for each other’s mission, vision, as well
as values is indeed, will give a good result in a group. If the entire member
are able to share their mission, vision, and also their values, then it will be
a perfect way of constructing the consistency within the group. The entire
members of a group need to come to an agreement on the mission and also have a
related vision intended for the upcoming result. When each member has been
given with an opportunity to declare their values in concern to the mutual
mission, then they would either approve to differ on particular individual
values or, they could instead shape the agreement of how they would able to
work together on the way to the anticipated result meant for the premier value
of the entire concerned.
Moreover, we should have a strong relationship with ourselves first, before
we will assume to have a sufficient relationship with any person. Sharing the shared aims within the entire members of a
group will able to bring out the structure to relationships. However, reliance
necessitates a mixture of furtherance as well as the responsibility that take in
well-being and also safety. The minute when a choice to share the intimacy
within a group has been created, then trust among every single member of the
group will slowly get shaped. A group with the trust among its members will be
a stronger group if compared with a group without trust among its members (Ryan, 2012).
It
is obvious that every intimate relationship are, indeed, compulsory for every
single industry that survives. We have to admit that, without other people, we
could not present as an organization. Instead, we present ourselves as an
individual. As explained above that intimacy will able to strengthen any
relationships, and, the strong relationships will also able to improve the
internal group as well. Numbers of current studies have revealed that
strengthening the relationships in a group or at work place will able to improve
confidence, rises the commitment and even also leads to larger satisfaction as
a member of the group. The reason behind this is that, if an intimacy has
formed and practiced within relationships, then there will be respect from one
another, there will be shared objectives, there will be support for one
another, understanding of one another, sharing and giving opinions on one
another. And these points mentioned are definitely will give the result where
the relationship will get stronger due to a proper intimacy and interactions
which occur within the people inside the relationship. Thus, intimacy could be
considered as an important and fundamental factor to make any relationships to
get stronger and better.
Furthermore,
some studies have proven that intimacy is able to strengthen the
relationships for the points mention
below:
Evaluate together about the on-going issues
Improved the capability of every person to overwhelmed the fears
to speak out
Enhanced the social as well as relational and also the work
relationships
References of Intimate relationship
Adams, P. J. (2007). Fragmented Intimacy: Addiction
in a Social World. Springer Science & Business Media.
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https://www.cbhs.com.au/health-well-being-blog/blog-article/2014/10/06/the-importance-of-intimacy
Cottam,
M. L., Mastors, E., Preston, T., & Dietz, B. (2010). Introduction to
Political Psychology: 2nd Edition. Psychology Press.
Fletcher,
G. J., Simpson, J. A., Campbell, L., & Overall, N. C. (2012). The
Science of Intimate Relationships. John Wiley & Sons.
Gitterman,
A. (2014). Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient
Populations. Columbia University Press.
Hewstone,
M., Stroebe, W., & Jonas, K. (2016). An Introduction to Social
Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
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com. (2019). Why Intimacy Is Important for Any Relationship to Flourish.
Retrieved from www.marriage.com: https://www.marriage.com/blog/relationship/why-intimacy-is-important-for-any-relationship-to-flourish/
Neale,
M. A., Mannix, E. A., & Mullen, E. (2010). Fairness and Groups.
Emerald Group Publishing.
Noam,
G. G., & Fischer, K. W. (2013). Development and Vulnerability in Close
Relationships. Psychology Press.
Psychologytoday.
com. (2016, 06 09). Intimacy: The Art of Relationships. Retrieved from
www.psychologytoday.com:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/196912/intimacy-the-art-relationships
Ryan,
R. M. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation. Oxford University
Press, USA.