Couple relationships have always been transactional. In the past even more so than today (because in the past couples were more about survival and less about feelings).

Only the love a parent has for their offspring could be unconditional — theoretically. What actually happens, though, is that many parents love in an egotistical and faulty way (and that’s why so many people become neurotics and unhappy). After all, parents are humans too — therefore needy and imperfect. Thus even parents’ love is often transactional.