4. Be thoughtful about how you introduce your partner to friends.

If you're dating someone who values deep, intimate connections but is stressed out by short, casual interactions with lots of people, don't throw a huge party as a way of introducing your love to your work, grad school, college, and book club buddies in one fell swoop. Your introvert partner is not going to adore every single person in your life, so prioritize! Decide who your sweetheart really needs to get along with, and work to nurture the most important relationships. When we first started dating, I planned relaxing, low-pressure hangouts making dinner and watching movies with my beloved and my BFF, and they bonded in a way they never would have if I'd introduced them at a karaoke bar. (Caveat: If you plan one-on-one time with a different buddy every night of the week, it is neither relaxing nor low-key, and your introvert will not thank you for it.)

5. Develop new friendships together.

There's a good chance that if you're in an introvert-extrovert relationship, your extrovert brought along a broad network of friends and casual acquaintances, while your introvert came equipped with only a few very close friends. This leads to a fun spiral: extrovert wants to go out with friends, extrovert drags introvert along, introvert feels left out, introvert avoids social engagements, thus failing to become friends with extrovert's friend group and making future socialization less and less likely. If you can find an activity that lets you both meet new people at the same time (Book club? Karaoke? Ballroom dancing?), it can be easier to form a social circle in which you both feel comfortable — while still, of course, maintaining your friendships from before you got together. Actually, if you can manage it, I really recommend the tactic my partner and I tried, which was to move to a new state together after nine months of dating. We restarted our social lives on equal footing and now have several close friends we both love spending time with.

6. There is more than one way to compromise!

Sometimes compromise means we do something that's in between the things we both want to do, like getting together with a small group of friends instead of going to a huge party, or staying in and reading. Sometimes it means we do my thing tonight and your thing next weekend. Sometimes it means one person goes out and the other stays in. Nine out of 10 people will tell you that the secret to a good relationship is compromise (the 10th will mention vibrators), but bear in mind that it's equally important to define the kind of compromise that will work best in a given situation.

7. When you get your way, make sure to check in with your partner.

Communication isn't something you do once in a while; it should be ongoing. Abandoning your sweetie in a situation outside his or her comfort zone is never cool. I met my partner by striking up a conversation when her date left her alone and uncomfortable at a Halloween party full of people she didn't know. Pay attention to your introvert's needs, people, especially if your introvert is really, really attractive. If you don't, trust me, someone else out there will!