Why do people change in relationships?

[Nazgol]

For example, most people are very careful, considerate, loving & sweet first few years & eventually it gets less & less what is the reason, in your opinion?

Updates

+1 y

& feel free to share from your experience or those you know

[Diodoro]

Few things

1. People change over time irrespective of a relationship. You won't even be the same person 3 years from now and in a relationship two people are both changing. The goal is that you both change in the same direction

2. It's not uncommon for people to not be necessarily entirely honest with who they are and or what they wanted at the start. So potentially with time it's not that they changed. But they can no longer handle being in something that's not what they initially wanted.

Maybe they thought you would change or they had "potential" for something that you wanted only for you to find out that's not what they wanted for them. It's what you wanted for them

And I say not honest about what you want rather than what you want changing because deep down you know when you have doubts. And when you ignore them that's when you're not being honest with yourself and thereby also not being honest with the other person

While yes people change over time, if you're clear on what you want that won't necessarily change in a dramatic way outside perhaps the degree. Like if you want to make 250k in the next 5 years and by year 3 you can see yourself doing 500k and readjust for that. The goal was the same, the target simply moved slightly

3. Taking for granted what you have because you aren't consistently reminded of their value in your life. Part of the reason those in your life are taken for granted is because you don't clock all the things they bring to your life. And because you don't pay attention to those things you unintentionally diminish your perception of their value to you and with that tends to lead to an attitude of "what have you done for me lately?"

Rather than being the best lover you can.

4. Building silent resentments, rather than bringing things up and talking about issues as they arise for whatever the reason may be. One bad habit that is potentially a relationship killer is one more often girls do.

They don't get mad about one thing. They file every single thing you did that bothered them over the past 6 months then when it becomes too much. They yell about how you did this and this and this, and didn't do this and this and this, and it's all because YOU DON'T CARE... all because you forgot to take out the trash when you got home lol

Obviously extreme but you get the point. That shit happens to varying degrees and those little resentments over time effect behavior in a relationship

[ohshee]

Most of the time when people get in relationships they look to the outside of the person and they think that's who that person really is people don't change it's all of a sudden they start looking at the inside you start feeling the person from the inside and they see who's that person truly is that's why I always say before I even dating anybody I want to know exactly who they are on the inside because that's who they truly are the beauty on the outside is where we all fell because we fall in love with that look and that look means nothing that's not who they are they are the person on the inside, if the energy of a person who is the true person the real person

[paradiseonearth93]

Novelty and excitement may be worn off. This can be reignited but people get lazy.
Or they don’t feel the need to show it but the love is still there.
Or genuine love was never there/they were never in love but chose this partner due to an external factor that they thought was love/would guarantee love but failed to do so.

I haven’t been in a long enough relationship to give an honest experienced answer but all I can say is I never get bored with myself, less considerate or loving or giving to myself. I change a lot as a person; this is expected as people are constant.. I like to have fun with life and I hope to meet a partner who does too and will be IN love with me so all that consideration, loving and sweetness will be enduring.. throughout our changes..

[Aerissa_Jade]

In my family those that got married younger, learned how to grow and change together.

My grandparents on the one side are going to be hitting their 60 year anniversary soon, the other set, my grandpa died but they had been together for over 50 years when he passed.

I see people waiting to get married until they are older, more set in their ways and less flexible to learn and grow together with someone. They tend to be, my way or the highway. It happens to us all, as we get used to living alone, not having to share decisions that can be hard later on.

There is no way people are not going to change, they just need to figure out how to do it together.

[AmandaYVR]

Because people change in general. Skeptics say "people don't change" but few people stay static their entire lives.
People take others for granted because of familiarity. And they tend to be the most themselves around the ones they are closest to, because there is a certain [false] sense of safety that they can't get away with it, the other will stay. And that's not always true.

[caring__1]

People tend to be on their best behavior, and promise the moon, until they settle in and feel secure. After that, the motivation to be the best partner they can be dwindles. Once that happens, the focus tends to be more on what the other person should be doing rather than what they can do to add to the moment. The more we focus on entitlement, the more insatiable we become and the less satisfied we'll be. It's easy to blame others when we feel unfulfilled, yet only our own action will change our situation.

[Cubus]

It's because of hormons. When we found a new person, and we get attracted to him/her we are curious about him/her. We want to get to know him/her, get surprised, discover. It's the same why people were exloring new lands in the past - because of curiosity, exploring an unknown is tempting, because we're curious what's there.

In relationship hormon "dopamine" is responsible for this. It motivates us, makes us want to discover our other half, to explore the future. But this hormone is only released for some time. When the relationship becomes a routine, we lose interest, because there is not much left to explore.

[Little_Bumblebee]

Either because they pretended that they were, to begin with, or they might have grown tired of the other or taken them for granted. Maybe something happened in the relationship or life had been rough on them so they don't have the energy to be considerate.

[Hanrej]

People build themselves outside of a relationship then lose themselves when engaged in a relationship. It's all fun and games before you're actually togeather then comes the responsibility, compromise, change and more often than not people won't discuss beforehand where they want to be in a year, much less 5 or 30.

[AviatorTom]

Life is all about change. We get older and more mature. Our bodies slow down. We move to a different place. Relationships also change over time, that's why relationships and marriage are hard work. They don't just happen... the partners need to work at the relationship.

[SphynxUK]

People become complacent and take each other for granted. Once you get here, it’s a downward spiral.
If anyone tells you you don’t have to work at a relationship, they’re lying.

[jasco]

Lost of interest, people become busier with other task, their are problems that aren't being discuss, lack of feedback on both sides, someone is cheating or both, children ( sometimes plays a role ), lack of or to much money ( having to much money can be a curse in it's own way).

[Anonymous]

They are super careful during the getting to know you period (the honeymoon period). Partly unconscious and partly conscious. The are chemical changes that encourage this.
But this cannot last.
When normal brain function starts to take hold, so does normal behaviour. You may like it, you may not.
And in addition, they are learning more about you. They may like what they find, they may not.
Or they are just fickle and cannot sustain a relationship.

[Wiredone]

I think it's because they don't have to do all that anymore since they already got you. When they are trying to win your heart they are all lovey dovey and do everything for you. Once they get you they don't have to try so hard

[ShadezMcgee]

They stopped dating each other leading to the relationship and became complacent with routine and mundane activities. Both no longer do what attracted the other or kept the spark going.

[MelonSoda]

They gotta get you in there somehow. Once they do, they get comfortable and start showing you who they really are. It's up to you whether you wanna put up with it and stay or get the hell outta there.

[dustybiker]

We are bombarded with outside experiences on a daily bases. Those forces are enough to change a person no matter how stable the home is.

[Steve1071]

People start to take their spouses for granted and get a little complacent and forget to let them know how much they mean to them. That’s one reason.

[sheikalana]

Because people change whether they're in a relationship or not. Or people tend to reveal their true colors with time.

[SAMI_DABBAB]

The more you experience the more likely you will change in life, Relationships just happen to be a whole lot of experiences so they change us in a visible way

[Recurrence]

I think it’s just that people change over time no matter what

[Nazgol]

Yeah they change as a person but I don't see why they should relationship wise

[anon1903]

They don't change. They just start being lazy, inconsiderate jerks like they always were.

[Luopio27]

When you spend so much time with eachh othher, it is impossible not to go through little changes.

[andy530]

People change…. It is foolish for us to enter into relationships and expect our partners not to change