What happens in the time between meeting someone new and officially calling them your partner? Decades ago, you might’ve called this the “wooing” stage: commonly, where a man offered a woman gifts, flowers and attention in the hopes of gaining her affection. Today, however, this stage is much more ambiguous.

There’s no longer the ever-looming pressure for adults to marry and start a family as young as they possibly can; they now have the freedom to take their time, truly get to know the person, and practice cohabitation before making the big commitment.

Given the change in norms in recent years, a new stage of

© Psychology Today