The now-famous "love languages" were first introduced in a book penned by Gary Chapman, a Baptist pastor and self-named marriage counselor. His book "The 5 Love Languages" (Northfield Publishing, 1992) skyrocketed in popularity, with its various editions selling around 20 million copies and landing a New York Times bestseller title.
Nowadays, Chapman's theory is all over TikTok, where content creators talk about their own love languages and question their compatibility with their partners. But experts have long challenged the notion because there's a lack of consistent evidence that the love languages improve communication between partners, and they may not fully reflect the ways people receive and express love.
