Romantic Orientation Meaning Definition

What Is The Meaning Or Definition Of Romantic Orientation:

Romantic orientation, also known as affectional orientation, is an aspect of self and identity that involves how one identifies themselves, the way they experience romantic desires, and if they do, the gender(s) or sex(es) of the people who someone engages in romantic relationships or fall in love with, if any, the gender(s) or sex(es) of the people someone is romantically attracted to, if any. In short, it identifies who a person is romantically attracted to, meaning wanting to be in a romantic relationship with, and it is not related to sexual attraction or engagement.

Romantic attraction is an experience of having an emotional stimulus that results in the desire for a romantic, but not necessarily sexual, relationship or behavior, or interaction with another person or oneself. Romantic attraction is a capacity that evokes the need or wishes to engage or get involved in romantically intimate behavior or activities, such as dating, relationships, and marriage, experienced in varying degrees, all the way from little, to intense, to none at all.

The connection between romantic attraction and sexual attraction is still an ongoing debate and is not yet fully resolved. In general, for asexual people, romantic orientation is usually considered a more meaningful indicator of attraction than sexual orientation.

There are some people who experience romantic attraction but don’t experience sexual attraction, and vice versa. It is used both, together and in isolation, with the term sexual orientation, and is based on the broader school of thought that romantic attraction is one element of a larger ecosystem.

Romantic orientation is often confused with sexual attraction, emotional attraction, and spiritual attraction. For instance, even though a pansexual individual may feel sexually attracted to anyone regardless of their gender, they may experience romantic attraction and intimacy only with women.

Romantic orientations take the prefix of the word and the ending with “-romantic,” such as aromantic, biromantic, heteroromantic, panromantic, etc.

Romantic Orientation Vs Sexual Orientation:

There is a difference between romantic orientation and sexual orientation. One person can have a different romantic orientation from their sexual orientation; likewise, the same person can have the same romantic orientation and sexual orientation.

Hence, romantic orientation and sexual orientation are independent of each other. For instance, a person can be hetero-romantic and homo-sexual, or one can be homo-romantic and hetero-sexual; likewise, the same person can be hetero-romantic and hetero-sexual, or once can be homo-romantic and homo-sexual.

Romantic Orientation Or Affection Orientation Is Self Identification In Terms Of Experiencing Or Not Experiencing Romantic Attraction Towards Specific Genders And Sex