Sociologists and cultural historians suggest that modern romantic love is a relatively recent socio-cultural construct. For much of human history, marriage was an economic and political transaction, not a pursuit of emotional fulfillment. The modern ideal of 'the soulmate'—a single individual who must provide friendship, sexual excitement, domestic stability, and intellectual companionship—grew out of the Romantic movement of the late 18th century and is continuously reinforced by capitalist media and consumerism.