Gary Chapman

A Baptist pastor and marriage counsellor who noticed the same complaint recurring in his office for years: one partner insisting they showed love, the other insisting they never felt it.

The Five Love Languages proposes that people give and receive affection primarily through words, time, gifts, service or touch, and that mismatches explain a great deal of ordinary domestic misery. The framework has almost no empirical support and researchers have said so clearly. It has also helped an enormous number of couples articulate something they could not name, which is why it survives the criticism.