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What kind of love is love at first sight? An empirical investigation
Abstract and Figures
Love at first sight (LAFS) is a commonly known phenomenon, but has barely been investigated scientifically. Major psychological theories of love predict that LAFS is marked by high passion. However, it could also be a memory confabulation construed by couples to enhance their relationship. We investigated LAFS empirically by assessing feelings of love at the moment participants met potential partners for the first time. Data were collected from an online study, a laboratory study, and three dating events. Experiences of LAFS were marked neither by high passion, nor by intimacy, nor by commitment. Physical attraction was highly predictive of reporting LAFS. We therefore suggest that LAFS is not a distinct form of love, but rather a strong initial attraction that some label as LAFS, either in the moment of first sight or retrospectively.
... From the perspective of evolutionary biology, IRA evolved to enable an individual to choose a specific mating partner that he/she prefers among potential partners, thereby reducing the waste of mating resources and increasing the individual's chances of success in the highly competitive mating market (Fisher et al., 2002(Fisher et al., , 2005Place et al., 2009). The IRA not only plays an important role in specific preferred mating partner selection, but also has a significant impact on the quality of subsequent romantic relationships (Finkel et al., 2007;Hefner and Wilson, 2013;Zsok et al., 2017). Therefore, in past decades, social psychologists have conducted a large number of fruitful behavioral studies (Luo and Zhang, 2009;Asendorpf et al., 2011;Maner and Ackerman, 2015;Olderbak et al., 2017;Gerlach and Reinhard, 2018). ...
... While the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA have been well established, little is known about the brain responses related to its generation and evaluation (Grant-Jacob, 2016;Zsok et al., 2017). To investigate the systems associated with generating and evaluating IRA, we used a simulated "online dating" paradigm ( Figure 1A; Finkel et al., 2007;Cooper et al., 2012). ...
... To investigate the systems associated with generating and evaluating IRA, we needed to first induce enough IRA reports (i.e., approximately 30 per participant) in the laboratory environment. However, the natural incidence of IRA is fairly low, approximately 1-2% (Zsok et al., 2017;Kerr et al., 2020). To achieve the goal of 30 IRA reports per participant, each participant would need to be exposed to at least 3,000 stimuli, a seemingly impossible task. ...
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of effort, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential analysis with dipole-source analysis to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA-engendered and unengendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over the occipital–parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over the anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over the parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.
... event-related desynchronization, event-related potential, individual preference, mate selection, romantic attraction 1 | INTRODUCTION Attraction to a person during an initial encounter is generally the first step or the initial motivation to develop a romantic relationship (Gerlach & Reinhard, 2018;Olderbak, Malter, Wolf, Jones, & Figueredo, 2017). This attraction has inconsistently been referred to as romantic attraction (Asendorpf, Penke, & Back, 2011;Fisher, Aron, Mashek, Li, & Brown, 2002;Gerlach & Reinhard, 2018), initial attraction (Olderbak et al., 2017), initial romantic attraction (IRA; Finkel, Eastwick, & Matthews, 2007), romantic interest at zero acquaintance (Asendorpf et al., 2011), and love at first sight (Grant-Jacob, 2016;Zsok, Haucke, De Wit, & Barelds, 2017). Here, the term IRA is used to describe this attraction. ...
... During this time, psychologists conducted a great deal of fruitful research and discovered a variety of factors (such as physical attractiveness [PA] and similarity) that predict the experience of romantic attraction (Asendorpf et al., 2011;Conroy-Beam & Buss, 2016;Cooper, Dunne, Furey, & O'Doherty, 2012;Finkel et al., 2007;Olderbak et al., 2017;Zsok et al., 2017). Since the early 1980s, however, interest has shifted, and scholars have begun to direct their attention and resources to the study of ongoing romantic relationships. ...
... According to data reported in previous studies, the induction rate of romantic attraction is quite low (approximately a few percent on average; Zsok et al., 2017). To obtain relatively stable results, we needed to obtain a sufficient number of trials (approximately 30 per person) in which IRA was successfully induced. ...
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions (such as feelings of exhilaration and compulsive thinking) toward desirable potential partners, usually at initial or early-stage encounters when no close relationship has yet been established. After decades of effort, the evolutionary value and key characteristics of IRA are well understood. However, the brain mechanisms associated with IRA are unclear. To address this question, we simulated a mate selection platform similar to that of Tinder. When participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners on the platform, their electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded in real time. The behavioral data demonstrated that IRA to ideal potential partners mainly reflects the dimensions of arousal and domination. The main study finding was that processing of the individual preference faces that resulted in IRA was associated with a decrease in power in the alpha and lower beta bands over the posterior and anterior sensor clusters; this occurred between 870 and 2,000 ms post-stimulus. Key findings regarding event-related potentials (ERPs) sensitive to individual stimuli preferences were replicated. The results support the hypothesis that brain oscillations in the alpha and lower beta range may reflect modulation in cortical activity associated with individual mate preferences.
... The impulse of love at first sight (ILFS) is not a distinct form of love, but rather represents a strong initial attraction [1]. In real life, the ILFS is a well-known phenomenon. ...
... The research of Alea et al. [2] showed that ILFS affects the quality of a relationship, as memories established early in the relationship often remain influential in the later stages of the relationship. The ILFS is highly correlated with physical attractiveness [1]. Physical attractiveness has always proven to be a powerful predictor of mutual attraction and partner choice and is equally applicable to cross-cultural and transgender people [3,4]. ...
Love at first sight is a well-known and interesting phenomenon, and denotes the strong attraction to a person of the opposite sex when first meeting. As far as we know, there are no studies on the changes in physiological signals between the opposite sexes when this phenomenon occurs. Although privacy is involved, knowing how attractive a partner is may be beneficial to building a future relationship in an open society where both men and women accept each other. Therefore, this study adopts the photoplethysmography (PPG) signal acquisition method (already applied in wearable devices) to collect signals that are beneficial for utilizing the results of the analysis. In particular, this study proposes a love pulse signal recognition algorithm based on a PPG signal. First, given the high correlation between the impulse signals of love at first sight and those for physical attractiveness, photos of people with different levels of attractiveness are used to induce real emotions. Then, the PPG signal is analyzed in the time, frequency, and nonlinear domains, respectively, in order to extract its physiological characteristics. Finally, we propose the use of a variety of machine learning techniques (support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and extreme gradient enhancement (XGBoost)) for identifying the impulsive states of love, with or without feature selection. The results show that the XGBoost classifier has the highest classification accuracy (71.09%) when using the feature selection.
... Finally, in French "love at first sight" is translated as "le coup de foudre" (the strike of a lightning), confirming the hypothesis further. According to the prediction of psychological theories , "love at first sight" should be marked with a particularly high passion [39], which agrees with this hypothesis. ...
The hypothesis of the human brain operation in vicinity of a critical point has been a matter of a hot debate in the recent years. The evidence for a possibility of a naturally occurring phase transition across this critical point is missing so far. Here we suggest that love might be an example of a second-order phase transition. We analyze three examples of love at first sight from classical literature, showing that they are compatible with the square root scaling of feelings with time predicted by the hypothesis. Two examples of love from liking also confirm the theory. Finally, we predict a critical value of liking ensuring the stability of relations. All results are also supported by the common knowledge expressed in proverbs.
... This emotional and unrealistic response is passionate love (Baron & Branscombe, 2017). Love at first sight, which is not much different from love, is used to describe a strong initial attraction that some people either refer to in the moment of first sight or later on (Zsok, 2017). Even though it seems like something that only occurs in movies, research shows that the majority of individuals have experienced "love at first sight". ...
Thinking about and exploring love by college students is not a very uncommon scenario in the present times. The trend of relationships being a necessity in colleges is very much prevalent nowadays. Most college students who are susceptible to relationships go through the phenomena of passionate love. This study tries to investigate the relationship between passionate love and Big Five personality traits that may help us to predict how an individual may experience and perceive passionate love. The PLS and TIPI inventory was used to measure the passionate love and personality of college students. The passionate love scale was composed of three components which are cognitive, emotional, and behavioural. The Big Five personality traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. The questionnaire was administered to 120 college students who were selected using the convenience sampling technique. The collected data was analysed using a correlational research technique. The results of this study revealed that various components of passionate love were found to be significantly associated with Big Five personality traits. Individuals who possess high levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience displayed comparatively higher levels of the cognitive component of passionate love than the other personality traits. While the emotional component showed a significant negative correlation with emotional stability whereas the behavioural component had a significant positive correlation with agreeableness and conscientiousness. The limitations and suggestions for further research regarding passionate love and limitations were discussed.
Keywords- Sternberg's triangular theory of love, Big five personality, Passionate love, College students
... The authors indicated that facial attractiveness of the partner strongly predicts romantic evaluation both for males and females to a similar degree, suggesting that the sex differences in ideal partner preference might emerge only in the stage of forming impressions of an ideal partner before a face-to-face interaction. This study and another study (Zsok et al., 2017) further suggested that this link might be stronger in the initiation stage than during the postformation stage of a long-term relationship. We might think that we consider personal traits other than facial attractiveness when choosing an "ideal" partner. ...
Romantic love is universally observed in human communities, and the manner in which a person chooses a long-term romantic partner has been a central question in studies on close relationships. Numerous empirical psychological studies have demonstrated that facial attractiveness greatly impacts initial romantic attraction. This close link was further investigated by neuroimaging studies showing that both viewing attractive faces and having romantic thoughts recruit the reward system. However, it remains unclear how our brains integrate perceived facial attractiveness into initial romantic attraction. In addition, it remains unclear how our brains shape a persistent attraction to a particular person through interactions; this persistent attraction is hypothesized to contribute to a long-term relationship. After reviewing related studies, I introduce methodologies that could help address these questions.
... Finally, in French "love at first sight" is translated as "le coup de foudre" (the strike of a lightning), confirming the hypothesis further. According to the prediction of psychological theories , "love at first sight" should be marked with a particularly high passion [34], which agrees with this hypothesis. ...
The hypothesis of the human brain operation in vicinity of a critical point has been a matter of a hot debate in the recent years. The evidence for a possibility of a naturally occurring phase transition across this critical point was missing so far. Here we show that love might be an example of such second-order phase transition. This hypothesis allows to describe both love at first sight and love from liking or friendship.
... The induction rate of IRA has been reported to be quite low (only a few percent) (Zsok et al., 2017), the IRA induction rate should be increased to obtain enough data to train the model . Numerous studies have shown that physical attractiveness is a good predictor of a an individual's popularity (i.e., probability of being selected by the opposite sex) with the opposite sex (Asendorpf et al., 2011;Olderbak et al., 2017;Gerlach and Reinhard, 2018;. ...
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions toward potential ideal partners based on individual preferences; its evolutionary value lies in facilitating mate selection. Although the EEG activities associated with IRA have been preliminarily understood; however, it remains unclear whether IRA can be recognized based on EEG activity. To clarify this, we simulated a dating platform similar to Tinder. Participants were asked to imagine that they were using the simulated dating platform to choose the ideal potential partner. Their brain electrical signals were recorded as they viewed photos of each potential partner and simultaneously assessed their initial romantic attraction in that potential partner through self-reported scale responses. Thereafter, the preprocessed EEG signals were decomposed into power-related features of different frequency bands using a wavelet transform approach. In addition to the power spectral features, feature extraction also accounted for the physiological parameters related to hemispheric asymmetries. Classification was performed by employing a random forest classifier, and the signals were divided into two categories: IRA engendered and IRA un-engendered. Based on the results of the 10-fold cross-validation, the best classification accuracy 85.2% (SD = 0.02) was achieved using feature vectors, mainly including the asymmetry features in alpha (8–13 Hz), beta (13–30 Hz), and theta (4–8 Hz) rhythms. The results of this study provide early evidence for EEG-based mate preference recognition and pave the way for the development of EEG-based romantic-matching systems.
... Although there is a substantive literature on the biological, psychological, and sociological factors involved in attraction, partner preferences, and mate-choice, much less is known about the continuum of attraction that individuals experience. Whereas factors such as passionate love and love at first sight have been explored on the one end (e.g., Hefner & Wilson, 2013;Vannier & O'Sullivan, 2018;Zsok et al., 2017), we argue that there is a dearth of understanding about experiences at the other end of this conceptual continuum where attractions begin to germinate. In the current paper, we offer an attempt to understand an early stage in this human courtship process by highlighting the experiences of attraction known as crushes. ...
Crushes are uncommunicated, often unilateral, attractions to an individual, generally viewed as a state of unfulfilled longing. They are typically attributed to young people, but recent research suggests that these experiences might be common among adults as well, including among those in committed relationships. Combining findings from three studies across four datasets, this mixed-methods research explores crushes experienced by individuals in committed intimate relationships. Study 1 explored types of crushes, preferences and nature of exchanges among adults in committed relationships and compares their reports to a sample of single individuals. Study 2 examined perceived outcomes of crushes as a way to assess needs or goals served by crushes. Study 3 investigated expectations about whether and how the crush relationship might evolve into a more intimate relationship. A total of 3,585 participants (22–45 years, 53.1% women) completed anonymous online surveys addressing crush experiences and related dynamics. Those in committed relationships typically did not intend to communicate their attraction to the target, unlike single individuals. Associated outcomes were primarily positive, including excitement, increased esteem, and fantasy/escape. The vast majority reported no expectations that these crushes would evolve into more intimate relationships, replacing their current relationship. This work adds to our understanding of attraction outside of traditional human courtship processes, with implications for the study of intimate relationship development and maintenance.
... Romantic love can commence abruptly or build up slowly, although the phenomenon of "love at first sight" may actually be strong attraction rather than romantic love, per se (Sternberg, 1986;Zsok et al., 2017). In one study of Chinese and American participants, 38% of participants fell in love fast and 35% fell in love slow, with the remaining unknown (Riela et al., 2010). ...
Romantic love is a phenomenon of immense interest to the general public as well as to scholars in several disciplines. It is known to be present in almost all human societies and has been studied from a number of perspectives. In this integrative review, we bring together what is known about romantic love using Tinbergen’s “four questions” framework originating from evolutionary biology. Under the first question, related to mechanisms, we show that it is caused by social, psychological mate choice, genetic, neural, and endocrine mechanisms. The mechanisms regulating psychopathology, cognitive biases, and animal models provide further insights into the mechanisms that regulate romantic love. Under the second question, related to development, we show that romantic love exists across the human lifespan in both sexes. We summarize what is known about its development and the internal and external factors that influence it. We consider cross-cultural perspectives and raise the issue of evolutionary mismatch. Under the third question, related to function, we discuss the fitness-relevant benefits and costs of romantic love with reference to mate choice, courtship, sex, and pair-bonding. We outline three possible selective pressures and contend that romantic love is a suite of adaptions and by-products. Under the fourth question, related to phylogeny, we summarize theories of romantic love’s evolutionary history and show that romantic love probably evolved in concert with pair-bonds in our recent ancestors. We describe the mammalian antecedents to romantic love and the contribution of genes and culture to the expression of modern romantic love. We advance four potential scenarios for the evolution of romantic love. We conclude by summarizing what Tinbergen’s four questions tell us, highlighting outstanding questions as avenues of potential future research, and suggesting a novel ethologically informed working definition to accommodate the multi-faceted understanding of romantic love advanced in this review.
... e impulse of love at first sight (ILFS) is a significant initial attraction [1], that is, a strong desire to relate with another person, and is a complex phenomenon that includes evaluation, appreciation, and subjective experience of physiological changes. ILFS can be observed in many literary and artistic works. ...
The impulse of love at first sight (ILFS) is a well known but rarely studied phenomenon. Despite the privacy of these emotions, knowing how attractive one finds a partner may be beneficial for building a future relationship in an open society, where partners are accepting each other. Therefore, this study adopted the electrocardiograph (ECG) signal collection method, which has been widely used in wearable devices, to collect signals and conduct corresponding recognition analysis. First, we used photos to induce ILFS and obtained ECG signals from 46 healthy students (24 women and 22 men) in a laboratory. Second, we extracted the time- and frequency-domain features of the ECG signals and performed a nonlinear analysis. We subsequently used a feature selection algorithm and a set of classifiers to classify the features. Combined with the sequence floating forward selection and random forest algorithms, the identification accuracy of the ILFS was 69.07%. The sensitivity, specificity, F1, and area under the curve of the other parameters were all greater than 0.6. The classification of ECG signals according to their characteristics demonstrated that the signals could be recognized. Through the information provided by the ECG signals, it can be determined whether the participant possesses the desire to fall in love, helping to determine the right partner in the fastest time; this is conducive to establishing a romantic relationship.
... Männer sind in ihrem Leben öfters verliebt (Tomlinson & Aron, 2013;Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986), verlieben sich schneller (Sanz Cruces, Fernández Hawrylak et al., 2015;Brantley, Knox et al., 2002), geben öfters an, sich auf den ersten Blick zu verlieben (Zsok, Haucke et al., 2017) und sagen auch früher »Ich liebe Dich« als Frauen (Harrison & Shortall, 2011). Zudem befürworten sie mehr die romantische Aussage »wahre Liebe hält ewig« (vgl. ...
Hintergrund und Ziele Das Phänomen »Liebe« in all seinen Facetten beschäftigt seit Jahrzehnten zahlreiche Wissenschaftler in unterschiedlichen Disziplinen. Nachdem in den 70er und 80er-Jahren mit dem Aufschwung der Gender Studies zahlreiche Studien zu Geschlechtsunterschieden in romantischen Beziehungen durch-geführt wurden, stand in den letzten Jahren der Gender-Aspekt der Liebe allerdings oft nur selten im zentralen wissenschaftlichen Mittelpunkt und dann meist lediglich in Form eng umrissener Fragestel-lungen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, einen breit gefächerten und ungefilterten Fokus auf die Liebe von Mann und Frau in unterschiedlichen Beziehungsphasen – ihre Unterschiede, aber auch ihre Gemein-samkeiten – zu werfen. Untersucht wurden die Probanden und Probandinnen in Bezug auf ihren Liebesstil, ihre Ausprägung an Leidenschaft, Beziehungsaspekte, Bindungsverhalten, Persönlichkeit sowie Manie und Depression. Material und Methode An der Romantic Love-Studie (Psychiatrische und Psychotherapeutische Klinik des Universitätsklini-kums Erlangen, Arbeitsgruppe: Prof. Dr. med. J. Kornhuber) nahmen 330 Probanden teil. In die vorliegende Arbeit gingen die Daten von 316 Probandinnen und Probanden ein, darunter unter anderem 105 glücklich Verliebte, 58 unglücklich Verliebte und 95 Langzeit-Verliebte auf verschiedene psycho-metrische Merkmale untersucht. Verwendung fanden das Marburger Einstellungs-Inventar für Liebes-stile (MEIL), die Skala zur Erfassung leidenschaftlicher Liebe (Passionate Love Scale, PLS), das Hamburger Persönlichkeitsinventar (HPI), die Bindungsdiagnostische Skala (Relationship Scales Questionnaire, RSQ), die Manie-Selbstbeurteilungsskala (MSS) und das Beck Depressions-Inventar II (BDI II) sowie der Partnerschaftsfragebogen (PFB). Ergebnisse Insgesamt weisen Mann und Frau innerhalb der Romantic Love-Studie viele Gemeinsamkeiten auf (Depression, Manie, Leidenschaft, Bindungsverhalten u.v.m.). Unterschiede zeigen sich vor allem in den Persönlichkeitseigenschaften Risikobereitschaft für den glücklich verliebten und den frisch ge-trennten Mann sowie Extrovertiertheit für die glücklich verliebte und Neurotizismus für die unglücklich verliebte Frau. Innerhalb der Liebesstile fällt der glücklich verliebte Mann durch signifikant schwächere Ergebnisse in Ludus, die Langzeit verliebte Frau hingegen durch vermehrt Eros und ebenso vermindert Ludus auf. Der Vergleich der einzelnen Geschlechter in ihren eigenen Kohorten ergab, dass auch hier Mann und Frau viele Ähnlichkeiten aufweisen (Kontrolliertheit in den Langzeit-verliebten Kohorten, Bedeutung einer sicheren Bindung für Beziehungszufriedenheit, Nachteil Mania für das Führen einer Beziehung u.v.m.) Unterschiede zeigen sich hingegen vor allem im weiblichen Bindungsverhalten. Die Frau in einer langjährigen Beziehung erweist sich in ihrem Bindungsstil als sicherer als die frisch getrennte Frau, die sich in ihrem Stil als ängstlich-vermeidender präsentiert. Die Ergebnisse der eben genannten Bindungsstile sind Alterseinflüssen unterlegen. Schlussfolgerungen Im direkten Vergleich von Mann und Frau in den einzelnen Beziehungsstadien zeigen sich im Liebesstil und in der Persönlichkeit bedeutsame Differenzen. Dabei fallen erstmals in einem Gendervergleich männliche Probanden durch eine stark signifikante risikobereite Persönlichkeit auf, und hier vor allem unter den frisch getrennten und frisch verliebten Studienteilnehmern, nicht jedoch unter den Lang-zeit-Verliebten. Dies deutet auf einen ambivalenten Nutzen der Risikobereitschaft für das Führen einer Beziehung hin. So vermag es der Initiation einer solchen dienen, auf Dauer jedoch einer stabilen Paarbeziehung schaden. Während ubiquitär dem Mann ein spielerischer und promiskuitiver Umgang mit der Liebe bescheinigt wird, weist der frisch verliebte Mann der Romantic Love Studie dazu einen verminderten Hang auf. Dies ist möglicherweise ein Hinweis darauf, dass die junge Liebe seine spiele-rische Seite mildert oder aber, dass Männer mit niedrigen Ludus-Werten für das andere Geschlecht in Bezug auf Partnersuche einen besonderen Reiz ausstrahlen. Die weiblichen Probanden neigen hingegen in ihrer Persönlichkeit vor allem unter den frisch Verlieb-ten vermehrt zu Extrovertiertheit. Äquivalent zur Risikobereitschaft bei den Männern dieser Kohorte könnte diese Persönlichkeitsausprägung den Beginn einer Beziehung erleichtern oder aber die junge Liebe fördert die Extraversion-Anteile in den verliebten Frauen. Und während die Männer zu Beginn einer Beziehung wenig Ludus besitzen, ist dies bei den Frauen in langjährigen Partnerschaften der Fall. Für die Frau scheint in dieser Beziehungsphase entweder die Partnerschaft einen dämpfenden Effekt auf ihre spielerische Seite zu besitzen, oder aber ein Mangel an Ludus stellt einen Vorteil für das Führen einer langjährigen stabilen Partnerschaft dar. Ganz klar unterscheidet sich allerdings die Frau dieser Kohorte vom Mann dadurch, dass sie in ihrer Liebe romantischer ist. Während zuvor meist dem Mann mehr Eros zugeschrieben wird, ist es hier erstmals die Frau, welche sich als die Romantikerin in einer langjährigen Beziehung erweist. In Bestätigung früherer Studien, welche Neurotizismus mit beziehungsschädigenden Eigenschaften sowie einer Frauenwendigkeit verbinden, weist die frisch getrennte Frau im Vergleich zum Mann ein verstärktes Maß an Neurotizismus auf. Insgesamt zeichnen sich die Frauen in ihrer Gesamtheit als manischer und neurotischer aus als die Männer. Hier zeigt sich allerdings, dass mit dem Alter diese Aus-prägungen sinken, ein Hinweis darauf, dass die Beziehungsfähigkeiten der Frau mit dem Alter steigen könnten. Im Vergleich der einzelnen Geschlechter zwischen den einzelnen Kohorten deutet darauf hin, dass vor allem die kontrollierte Persönlichkeit – unabhängig ob bei Mann oder Frau – einen positiven Einfluss auf die Stabilität, nicht jedoch die Zufriedenheit einer Beziehung besitzt. Unterschiede zwischen den Geschlechtern zeigen sich jedoch im Bindungsverhalten und in der Bedeutung der Leidenschaft in den unterschiedlichen Phasen der Beziehungen. So erweist sich die Frau in einer langjährigen Partner-schaft als zärtlicher als die frisch verliebte Frau und verbindet auch mehr Leidenschaft mit Beziehungs-zufriedenheit als diese. Bei den Männern ist genau das Gegenteil der Fall. Eine mögliche Erklärung hierfür könnte darin liegen, dass sich die Frauen der Romantic Love Studie umso sicherer in ihrer Beziehung fühlen, desto länger diese andauert. Insgesamt zeigte sich jedoch, dass – entgegen der gemeinhin propagierten Unterschiede – zwischen Mann und Frau in Aspekten der Liebe beide Geschlechter in der Romantic Love Studie verhältnismäßig wenig signifikante Differenzen aufweisen.
... This is in line with the findings of Principe and Langlois (2011) that attractive faces elicit less disgust than unattractive faces and with Mehrabian and Blum (1997) who showed that attractive faces elicited more positive emotions in viewers. These findings highlight the desirability of physical attractiveness, particularly as mates (Eastwick et al. 2014;Zsok et al. 2017). Attractiveness seems to reduce disgust and therefore also avoidance tendencies-probably because it signals good health and small risk of pathogen transmission (Gangestad 1993;Sugiyama 2016;Tybur and Gangestad 2011). ...
Sexual stimuli can elicit both sexual arousal and disgust, which work against each other: Disgust motivates avoidance, arousal motivates approach. Previous studies suggest that in women sexual arousal temporarily inhibits sex-related disgust (e.g. Borg & de Jong, 2012), but not pathogenic disgust (e.g. Fleischman et al., 2015). This could serve the adaptive function of optimizing mating decisions, but studies have not yet assessed how disgust and sexual arousal interact in the face of potential mates. We tested the hypothesis that sexual arousal inhibits disgust if a partner is attractive, but not if he is unattractive or shows signs of disease. In an online experiment women rated their disgust towards anticipated behaviors with men depicted on photographs. Participants did so in a sexually aroused state and in a control state. The faces varied in attractiveness and the presence of disease cues (blemishes). We found that disease cues and attractiveness, but not sexual arousal influenced disgust. The results suggest that women feel disgust at sexual contact with unattractive or diseased men independently of their sexual arousal.
This chapter “Models of romantic love” describes one of the most scholarly visible forms of love, yet frequently misunderstood in its content and features. Some of its characteristics are shared with other models, while the others are unique. Several salient attributes of romantic love, such as its sexual and passionate nature, are reviewed in comprehensive and cross-cultural perspectives. The specific romantic beliefs and perceptions, especially idealization, which make romantic love “romantic,” received special emphasis in the chapter. Parasocial and narcissistic models of love are elucidated in light of the romantic features.KeywordsConcept of romantic loveFeatures of romantic loveDiversity of romantic loveComplexity of romantic loveCultural complexity of romantic lovePsychological complexity of romantic loveSexuality of romantic loveIdealization in romantic lovePassion of romantic loveAffection of romantic loveRomantic beliefsRomantic beliefs across culturesIrrationality of romantic beliefsRomantic love as a destinyRelations between romantic beliefs and real lifeRelations of romantic love with other models of loveAdmiration in romantic loveAdoration in romantic loveParasocial romantic loveIdolizing romantic loveFanatic romantic loveRomantic self-loveNarcissistic romantic love
For almost 25 years, the predominate evolutionary theory of romantic love has been Fisher’s theory of independent emotion systems. That theory suggests that sex drive, romantic attraction (romantic love), and attachment are associated with distinct neurobiological and endocrinological systems which evolved independently of each other. Psychological and neurobiological evidence, however, suggest that a complementary theory requires attention. A theory of co-opting mother-infant bonding sometime in the recent evolutionary history of humans may partially account for the evolution of romantic love. I present a case for this theory and a new approach to the science of romantic love drawing on human psychological, neurobiological, and (neuro)endocrinological studies as well as some animal studies. The hope is that this theoretical review, along with other publications, will generate debate in the literature about the merits of the theory of co-opting mother-infant bonding and a new evolutionary approach to the science of romantic love.
Love has been ignored in group analysis for too long. This article describes different forms of love and attachment love styles. Techniques to assess and work with love are introduced. The social unconscious of love and lovesickness must be made conscious to prevent it from becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Technologies impact on dating, relationships and love. Groups can help patients address feelings and behaviour arising from these. Love can be curative provided psychotherapists allow loving feelings to emerge in therapy and work with them. Frequently, being in love or unrequited love results in irrational, destructive behaviour, sorrow and disenfranchised grief. Why love can be disappointing is discussed. Since lovesickness may be diagnosed as depression, using the term lovesickness for emotions and behaviour arising from love related difficulties is proposed. This reduces stigma, because lovesickness is normal.
This study was conducted to determine the predictors of marital love. Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love (1986) is used as a starting point. Accordingly, a theoretical model that consists of four groups of level 1 predictor variables and a group of level 2 variables is used. The dependent variables in the model include the three dimensions of love: Passion, Intimacy, and Commitment. The research was conducted among 884 married couples from different parts of Croatia. The results show that married women are less passionate and that marriage partners' passion in marriage is greater at the beginning of the marriage without children and when there is a mutual physical attraction between partners. Married women report less intimacy while greater marital intimacy was present in marriages where there is greater partner support. Unlike passion, the experience of intimacy does not vary at different marital stages. Women show less commitment and partners' commitment to marriage is greater when there is greater emotional stability of both partners, greater mutual physical attraction, and partner support. At the end of the paper, limitations on making firmer conclusions based only on the present study are emphasized.
Die Bindungstheorie stellt einen geeigneten theoretischen Rahmen dar, um viele Einzelbefunde über Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung einer engen intimen Beziehung zu einem integrativen, empirisch gestützten, kognitiv-behavioralen Modell zusammenzufassen. Zentrale Annahme ist, dass aufgrund früher Lernerfahrungen in Kindheit und Jugend ein persönliches inneres Arbeitsmodell über enge Beziehungen gebildet wird, welches sowohl die Partnerwahl als auch die Gestaltung von Ehe und Partnerschaft im Erwachsenenalter im Wesentlichen bestimmt. Die Integration dieser theoretischen Annahmen und empirischen Befunde ergibt ein Erklärungsmodell, das Bedingungen für die Verschlechterung und die Verbesserung einer Beziehung expliziert und somit die Ableitung von therapeutischen Interventionen ermöglicht. Das Wissen über Bedingungen, die für das Gelingen oder Scheitern einer Beziehung wesentlich sind, ist die Voraussetzung dafür, ein fundiertes Therapiekonzept zu entwickeln. Dargestellt werden die empirischen Befunde zu Liebe, Bindung, zur Rolle von Emotionen und Kognitionen und die alltägliche Interaktion und Kommunikation. Zentral für die Verschlechterung einer Beziehung gilt der Zwangsprozess mit seinen negativen Folgen für die Beziehung.
We evaluated five competing hypotheses about what predicts romantic interest. Through a half-block quasi-experimental design, a large sample of young adults (i.e. responders; n = 335) viewed videos of opposite-sex persons (i.e. targets) talking about themselves, and responders rated the targets' traits and their romantic interest in the target. We tested whether similarity, dissimilarity or overall trait levels on mate value, physical attractiveness, life history strategy and the Big Five personality factors predicted romantic interest at zero acquaintance and whether sex acted as a moderator. We tested the responders' individual perception of the targets' traits, in addition to the targets' own self-reported trait levels and a consensus rating of the targets made by the responders. We used polynomial regression with response surface analysis within multilevel modelling to test support for each of the hypotheses. Results suggest a large sex difference in trait perception; when women rated men, they agreed in their perception more often than when men rated women. However, as a predictor of romantic interest, there were no sex differences. Only the responders' perception of the targets' physical attractiveness predicted romantic interest; specifically, responders' who rated the targets' physical attractiveness as higher than themselves reported more romantic interest. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology.
Previous research has demonstrated that while women prefer to look at the face of men regardless of relationship context, men preferentially look at women’s bodies for short-term (over long-term) relationship judgments. The current study examined how self-rated mate value and ‘mating intelligence’ correlate with the subjective importance of information from the face or body. In addition, given the apparent sex differences in these judgments, we investigated whether either sex is aware of how the opposite-sex prioritizes this. Participants were 266 undergraduate students/volunteers who completed an online survey, measuring preferences for information from the face or body in short-term or long-term contexts, and a range of self-rated mate value measures. Information from the body was more important in short-term contexts for men (but not women), and correlated positively with mating strategy measures. While both sexes overestimated the opposite-sex’s preference for looking at the body, women accurately perceived men’s differential investment in face or body across contexts, whereas men assumed that women make decisions similarly to themselves. Women might benefit more than men from awareness of opposite-sex preferences as this could afford the enhancement or reduction of cues to sexual availability.
The present study sought to extend recent work by examining individual and relationship variables that predict the love-is-blind bias, that is, a tendency to perceive one's romantic partner as more attractive than oneself. A sample of 113 men and 143 women completed a battery of tests that included various demographic, individual difference, and relationship-related measures. Results provided support for a love-is-blind bias, in that both women and men rated their romantic partners as significantly more attractive than themselves on overall attractiveness and the attractiveness of various body components. Results also showed that the Big Five personality factor of Extraversion, self-esteem, relationship satisfaction, and romantic love were positively correlated with the love-is-blind bias, whereas relationship length and playful love were negatively correlated with the bias. The results of this study are considered in relation to previous work on positive partner illusions.
The same event that appeared unpredictable in foresight can be judged as predictable in hindsight. Hindsight bias clouds judgments in all areas of life, including legal decisions, medical diagnoses, consumer satisfaction, sporting events, and election outcomes. We discuss three theoretical constructs related to hindsight bias: memory, reconstruction bias, and motivation. Attempts to recall foresight knowledge fail because newly acquired knowledge affects memory either directly or indirectly by biasing attempts to reconstruct foresight knowledge. On a metacognitive level, overconfidence and surprise contribute to hindsight bias. Overconfidence in knowledge increases hindsight bias whereas a well-calibrated confidence reduces hindsight bias. Motivational factors also contribute to hindsight bias by making positive and negative outcomes appear more or less likely, depending on a variety of factors. We review hindsight bias theories and discuss three exciting directions for future research.
Body mass index and waisthip ratio are related to human health and both play a role in mate choice. However, previous research is inconsistent as to what body mass index and waisthip ratio values are preferred in women and what the relative importance of body mass index and waisthip ratio for attractiveness is. Here, we made several methodological refinements to obtain reliable estimations. Participants (Poles) indicated the most attractive woman from a set of digitally manipulated high-quality silhouettes varying orthogonally in body mass index and waisthip ratio and viewed from behind to exclude effects of the breast size. Then, each participant chose the more attractive silhouette from pairs in which one figure deviated from his/her ideal in body mass index and the other in waisthip ratio. Both sexes preferred underweight women (body mass index 17.3) with accentuated waist (waisthip ratio 0.66 for female and 0.70 for male judges). These represent preferences for unhealthy body mass and healthy body shape. Furthermore, body mass index proved twice as important for attractiveness as waisthip ratio, even though literature data indicate that waisthip ratio is at least as important for health as body mass index. We discuss the obtained pattern of preferences from the perspective of evolutionary psychology.
Despite their popularity, few studies have systematically investigated the content of romantic comedy movies or the effects they may have on viewers. We conducted two studies to address this gap. The first study was a content analysis of the romantic ideals embedded in the top 52 highest grossing romantic comedies from the last 10 years. Results demonstrated that romantic ideals and challenges are prevalent in these films. The second study was a large-scale survey of 335 undergraduate students, who were asked to report on their romantic comedy movie viewing and beliefs about romance. Results showed that individuals who watched these films in order to learn reported stronger endorsement of romantic ideal beliefs than those who did not watch to learn.
This study aimed to adapt the Tetrangular Love Scale (TLS) to the Brazilian context, gathering evidence of its factorial validity and reliability, in addition to factorial invariance with respect to participants' gender. The participants were 200 undergraduate students from João Pessoa (PB), with a mean age of 25 years old (104 women and 96 men), most of them single (76.9%). They answered demographic questions and filled the ETA, which consists of 20 items rated on a 5-points scale. Three different models were tested: uni- (all items loading on a single factor), tri- (in line with Sternberg's model), and tetrafactorial (Yela's model: commitment, intimacy, erotic passion, and romantic passion). This last model was more appropriate, and its corresponding four factors showed Cronbach's alphas above 0.70. Evidence was also gathered for the factorial invariance of this measure in groups of women and men. In conclusion, these findings support the psychometric adequacy of the ETA, indicating that it may be used in future studies to know the correlates of the love factors.
We describe a model for understanding interpersonal attraction in which attraction can be understood as a product of the initial evaluations we make about others. The model posits that targets are evaluated on two basic dimensions, capacity and willingness, such that affective and behavioral attraction result from evaluations of (a) a target's capacity to facilitate the perceiver's goals/needs and (b) a target's potential willingness to facilitate those goals/needs. The plausibility of the two-dimensional model of attraction is evaluated vis-à-vis the extant literature on various attraction phenomena including the reciprocity of liking effect, pratfall effect, matching hypothesis, arousal effects, and similarity effect. We conclude that considerable evidence across a wide range of phenomena supports the idea that interpersonal attraction is principally determined by inferences about the target's capacity and willingness.
Positive illusions about a partner’s physical attractiveness occur when individuals’ ratings
of their partner’s attractiveness are more positive than more objective ratings. Ratings
that may serve as a’’reality benchmark’ include ratings by the partner him/herself and
observer ratings. The present study compared the effects of using different reality
benchmarks on the strength of positive partner physical attractiveness illusions (n ¼ 70
couples). Results showed that individuals positively biased both their own and their
partner’s physical attractiveness. As a consequence, using a partner’s self-ratings as a
reality benchmark results in an underestimation of positive illusions. Presenting participants with photographs had a small effect on physical attractiveness ratings provided by
women, showing that photographs, to some extent, might constrain positive illusions.
The present study examined the relation between the type of relationship onset on the one hand and the degree to which partners have similar personalities and relationship quality on the other hand. It was hypothesized that partners who fell in love at first sight, relative to partners who got involved more gradually, entered into intimate relationships more shortly after they met, would have mates with less similar personalities, especially with regard to levels of extraversion, emotional stability and autonomy, and would report relatively low levels of relationship quality. In a sample of 137 married or cohabiting couples, it was found that, as predicted, partners who fell in love at first sight became romantically involved more quickly, and showed more dissimilar personalities with regard to levels of extraversion, emotional stability and autonomy. Partners who fell in love at first sight did not report lower relationship quality. Instead, partner personality trait similarity was related to relationship quality as a function of both relationship onset and specific personality traits.
Predictions derived from Sternberg's (1986) Triangular Theory of Love were tested. Two-hundred- and-four adults completed questionnaires assessing several constructs, including each of the three components of the theory: intimacy, passion and commitment. Results indicated mixed support for the Triangular Theory. As expected, self-reported levels of commitment were higher for the respondents in more serious (i.e. married vs unmarried) relationships. The predicted decline over time in passion emerged only for females, and intimacy levels did not generally display the predicted decline for longer relationships. Commitment was the most powerful and consistent predictor of relationship satisfaction, especially for the longest relationships. Other results indicated a need for more psychometrically sound measures of these constructs, and the desirability of using adult, non-student samples for investigations of romantic love.
A central element of interdependence theory is that people have standards against which they compare their current outcomes, and one ubiquitous standard in the mating domain is the preference for particular attributes in a partner (ideal partner preferences). This article reviews research on the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences and presents a new integrative model that highlights when and why ideals succeed or fail to predict relational outcomes. Section 1 examines predictive validity by reviewing research on sex differences in the preference for physical attractiveness and earning prospects. Men and women reliably differ in the extent to which these qualities affect their romantic evaluations of hypothetical targets. Yet a new meta-analysis spanning the attraction and relationships literatures (k = 97) revealed that physical attractiveness predicted romantic evaluations with a moderate-to-strong effect size (r = ∼.40) for both sexes, and earning prospects predicted romantic evaluations with a small effect size (r = ∼.10) for both sexes. Sex differences in the correlations were small (rdifference = .03) and uniformly nonsignificant. Section 2 reviews research on individual differences in ideal partner preferences, drawing from several theoretical traditions to explain why ideals predict relational evaluations at different relationship stages. Furthermore, this literature also identifies alternative measures of ideal partner preferences that have stronger predictive validity in certain theoretically sensible contexts. Finally, a discussion highlights a new framework for conceptualizing the appeal of traits, the difference between live and hypothetical interactions, and the productive interplay between mating research and broader psychological theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
The paper describes findings from an ethnographic study exploring understandings of love and intimacy amongst young heterosexual middle-class Indians of Gujarati origin in the UK and India. A two-site comparative study was used to enable an understanding of how social and economic contexts shape cultural constructions of intimate relationships and sexuality. Focusing on attitudes to 'love at first sight', this paper shows that, for Indian participants, love based on physical attraction denotes a lesser kind of love. A relationship based on 'physical love' is not expected to last, since it has been formed without regard to family and status concerns. Even couples who meet outside of the arranged marriage system demonstrate the quality of their love by not having sex with one another before marriage. In the UK, however, participants view love as properly spontaneous. Love at first sight is considered desirable and demonstrates how the relationship must be based on love only, without any concern for (for example) material gain. This spontaneous love entails both physical attraction and emotional connection - an early transition to sex, usually before marriage, was seen as both desirable and inevitable.
From many theoretical standpoints (behaviorist, cognitive, socio-biological, psychodynamic, socialization) it is predictable that Physical Attractiveness of the Other person (PAO) is actually more important in the loving relationships than people usually believe. To verify the working hypotheses derived from this general one, a questionnaire was administered in individual interviews, to a representative sample (n=1949) of the Spanish population. Data about perceived physical attractiveness by the interviewee in his/her partner, and some variables relevant to loving relationships, were collected. Results indicate that PAO is the principal factor in sporadic relationships, and influences the manner of falling in love. It is also important in stable relationships. In addition, PAO is linked both to feelings and thoughts associated with love (intimacy, passion, commitment, idealization) and to satisfaction with the relationship.
Humans frequently make real-world decisions based on rapid evaluations of minimal information; for example, should we talk to an attractive stranger at a party? Little is known, however, about how the brain makes rapid evaluations with real and immediate social consequences. To address this question, we scanned participants with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they viewed photos of individuals that they subsequently met at real-life "speed-dating" events. Neural activity in two areas of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), paracingulate cortex, and rostromedial prefrontal cortex (RMPFC) was predictive of whether each individual would be ultimately pursued for a romantic relationship or rejected. Activity in these areas was attributable to two distinct components of romantic evaluation: either consensus judgments about physical beauty (paracingulate cortex) or individualized preferences based on a partner's perceived personality (RMPFC). These data identify novel computational roles for these regions of the DMPFC in even very rapid social evaluations. Even a first glance, then, can accurately predict romantic desire, but that glance involves a mix of physical and psychological judgments that depend on specific regions of DMPFC.
We investigated the association between attachment and intimacy, passion, and commitment proposed in Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love on relationship satisfaction. Fifty-five university undergraduates who were in romantic relationships completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994) and Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love Scale (Sternberg, 1988). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the association between secure attachment and relationship satisfaction is mediated by commitment and intimacy. However, when controlling for passion, secure attachment and passion each provided direct paths to relationship satisfaction. These findings are discussed in relation to the Triangular Theory of Love, and the function of attachment, caregiving, and sexual systems as these systems impact relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Unreciprocated romantic attraction was explored by comparing narrative accounts. Unrequited love emerged as a bilaterally distressing experience marked by mutual incomprehension and emotional interdependence. Would-be lovers looked back with both positive and intensely negative emotions, whereas rejectors were more uniformly negative in their accounts. Unlike rejectors, would-be lovers believed that the attraction had been mutual, that they had been led on, and that the rejection had never been communicated definitely. Rejectors depicted themselves as morally innocent but still felt guilty about hurting someone; many rejectors depicted the would-be lover's persistent efforts as intrusive and annoying. Rejectors constructed accounts to reduce guilt, whereas disappointed lovers constructed them to rebuild self-esteem. Rejectors saw would-be lovers as self-deceptive and unreasonable; would-be lovers saw rejectors as inconsistent and mysterious. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Attraction as a Dynamic Process The Case of Florentino Ariza, or the Observer The Case of Fermina Daza, I: Perceived Traits The Case of Fermina Daza, II: Real Traits Conclusion References
The present study examined the extent to which individuals seek partners with similar, as opposed to complementary, personality characteristics. Results showed that whereas individuals desired a partner who resembles them in terms of personality, when asked about their preferences in general, most individuals indicated that they desired a complementary partner instead of a similar one. In addition to a similar partner with regard to personality, women also desired a more conscientious, less neurotic and more extraverted partner than men. These results are discussed with reference to the importance of matched personalities in marital success.
The present study sought to extend recent work by examining individual and relationship variables that predict the love-is-blind bias, that is, a tendency to perceive one's romantic partner as more attractive than oneself. A sample of 113 men and 143 women completed a battery of tests that included various demographic, individual difference, and relationship-related measures. Results pro-vided support for a love-is-blind bias, in that both women and men rated their romantic partners as significantly more attractive than themselves on overall attractiveness and the attractiveness of various body components. Results also showed that the Big Five person-ality factor of Extraversion, self-esteem, relationship satisfaction, and romantic love were positively correlated with the love-is-blind bias, whereas relationship length and playful love were negatively correlated with the bias. The results of this study are considered in relation to previous work on positive partner illusions. In the past several decades, psychologists have shown that our everyday experiences of social interactions are based, at least in part, on perceptions and cognitions that deviate from reality (e.g., Alicke, 1985; Lipkus, Martz, Panter, Drigotas, & Feaganes, 1993; Showers, 1992). One such deviation is positive illusions – misconceptions or misunderstandings (rather than "errors" in the strict sense) that are self-enhancing in some way (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Positive illusions may be protective for the individual that possesses them because they act as self-esteem buffers in the face of threats posed by nega-tive information (see Taylor, Lerner, Sherman, Sage, & McDowell, 2003). In the present paper, we examine one specific type of positive illusion, namely the "love-is-blind bias" in perceived physical attractiveness of a ro-mantic partner, which refers to a tendency to view one's romantic partner as being more physically attractive than oneself (Swami, Furnham, Georgiades, & Pang, 2007). More specifically, we investigated whether there are any individual and relationship correlates of the love-is-blind bias.
This chapter outlines an evolutionary social psychological view of attractiveness in humans. Attractiveness is a fundamental part of the human social world, and to understand why certain traits are attractive we must consider a biological view. In an evolutionary view, our preferences serve a function: To drive us to mate with partners who will impart some benefit to us. In the chapter, I review work highlighting the impact of attractiveness, review several traits of individuals that have been found to impact attractiveness, and discuss some sources of variability in preferences consistent with an evolutionary perspective. Overall, the chapter addresses how evolutionary theory can be married to the complexity and variation of human preferences to present a fuller understanding of what we find attractive, why we find it attractive, and why, despite broad agreement, we see a wide variety of personal preference differences.
Love ... What is it? Can we define it? What is its role in our lives? What causes love, and what dooms it? No single theory adequately answers all our questions about the nature of love, yet there are many theories that can contribute to our understanding of it. This fascinating book presents the full range of psychological theories on love-biological, taxonomical, implicit, cultural-updated with the latest research in the field. Robert Sternberg and Karin Weis have here gathered more than a dozen expert contributors to address questions about defining love, the evidence for competing theories, and practical implications. Taken together, these essays offer a comprehensive and engaging comparison of contemporary data and theories. As a follow up to The Psychology of Love, which was published in 1988 and edited by Robert Sternberg and Michael Barnes, this new collection engages with the many changes in the study of love in recent years. New theories are introduced as are modifications to existing theories. Focusing not on a single point of view but on the entire range of current theories, The New Psychology of Love provides today's definitive account of the nature of love.
The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of recent research, current perspectives, practical applications, and likely future developments in individual differences. Brings together the work of the top global researchers within the area of individual differences, including Philip L. Ackerman, Ian J. Deary, Ed Diener, Robert Hogan, Deniz S. Ones and Dean Keith Simonton. Covers methodological, theoretical and paradigm changes in the area of individual differences. Individual chapters cover core areas of individual differences including personality and intelligence, biological causes of individual differences, and creativity and emotional intelligence.
The “Symptoms” of LoveWhat is LoveThe Biology of Romantic LoveRejection in LoveConclusion
The investment model of commitment processes The investment model of commitment processes is rooted in interdependence theory and emerged from the broader scientific zeitgeist of the 1960s and 1970s that sought to understand seemingly irrational persistence in social behavior. The investment model was developed originally to move social psychology beyond focusing only on positive affect in predicting persistence in a close interpersonal relationship. As originally tested, the investment model holds that commitment to a target is influenced by three independent factors: satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Commitment, in turn, is posited to mediate the effects of these three bases of dependence on behavior, including persistence. Commitment is presumed to bring about persistence by influencing a host of relationship maintenance phenomena. The investment model has proven to be remarkably generalizable across a range of commitment targets, including commitment toward both interpersonal (e.g., abusive relationships, friendships) and noninterpersonal (e.g., ...
From an evolutionary psychological perspective, the maintenance of long-term romantic relationships plays a key role in human reproductive success. At a more proximate psychological level, relationship maintenance helps foster personal happiness and social well-being. Yet, in many romantic relationships, these benefits also come with significant conflict. In the face of conflict, romantically involved individuals are equipped with an array of adaptive psychological strategies designed to help maintain their relationships. This chapter outlines several types of relationship maintenance strategies designed to protect against relationship threats. These strategies include positive biases and pro-relationship behaviors directed toward one's partner and relationship, as well as negative biases directed toward attractive relationship alternatives and intrasexual rivals. Many relationship factors, but particularly relationship commitment, play an integral role in these relationship maintenance strategies. We review evidence of relationship maintenance strategies that may have evolved to ensure the longevity of romantic relationships.
This chapter argues that competition, conflict, and cooperation are at the core of human social engagement, emphasizing the importance of interaction of selfish and cooperative motivation in gaining understanding of the nature of human social engagement. Discussions suggest that children seem to gain reputation through competent involvement in cooperative and competing interactions. Social dominance is achieved with competent practice of pro-social and competitive behaviour, and this can be considered a mechanism when understanding social structures in groups. Pro-social interactions and helpfulness are associated with popularity and social status during childhood. Dominant individuals, who have better access to resources, apply a combination of aggressive and cooperative interactive strategies to maintain their status. The strategies are based on the group's ecology and the related costs and benefits. © 2006 by Peter J. Marshall & Nathan A. Fox. All rights reserved.
This research investigated gender similarities and differences in preferences for specific body parts in an ideal mate. 137 participants indicated the degree to which they desired their ideal version of a particular body part in their ideal mate. Whereas conventional wisdom dictates that women's physical appearance is more important to men than is men's appearance to women, results indicated that (a) women preferred body parts predictive of strength and overall fitness, (b) men preferred body parts predictive of fertility, and (c) both men and women preferred body parts predictive of overall health. Implications for theories of mate selection are discussed.
Media have the potential to serve as sources of information regarding couples and families for many children. One of the more popular forms of children's media is the Disney animated featurelength movie. To date, no research has examined images of couples and families in a wide sampling of Disney feature-length animated films. This study was designed to identify themes about couples and families portrayed in 26 Disney animated classics and recently released movies. In general, four overarching themes were identified: (a) family relationships are a strong priority, (b) families are diverse, but the diversity is often simplified, (c) fathers are elevated, while mothers are marginalized, and (d) couple relationships are created by “love at first sight,” are easily maintained, and are often characterized by gender-based power differentials. Clinical implications for family professionals are addressed.
This research investigated the factor structure, reliability and aspects of the construct validity of Sternberg's Triangular Love Scale (TLS). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the items of the TLS loaded on their designated factors of intimacy, passion and commitment; however, the model fit was poor and the factors were highly correlated. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that numerous items loaded on more than one factor. The subscales had extremely high internal consistencies and adequate 2-month test-retest reliabilities. Scores on all three subscales were related to relationship exclusivity and survival over the 2-month period, but only commitment and passion were related to expectancy for relationship survival. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed.
Through a program of research, a scale was developed to measure beliefs that have been identified in the literature as constituting an ideology of romanticism. The final scale items were selected and subjected to several reliability and validity tests in a survey study conducted with 730 undergraduate students. The results provided strong support for the validity and reliability of the Romantic Beliefs Scale as well as for the four beliefs comprising the scale: Love Finds a Way, One and Only, Idealization, and Love at First Sight. Furthermore, romanticism was found to be related to gender and gender-role orientation. Men were generally more romantic than women, and femininity was a stronger predictor of romanticism than was masculinity. These findings are discussed as a function of both social structure and personal predispositions.
Accounts of falling in love were obtained from three samples: (a) lengthy accounts from fifty undergraduates who had fallen in love in the last 8 months; (b) brief accounts from 100 adult nonstudents, which were compared to 100 brief falling-in-friendship accounts from the same population; and (c) questionnaire responses about falling-in-love experiences from 277 undergraduates, which were compared to falling-in-friendship-experience questionnaires from eighty-three similar undergraduates. Content analyses of Study 1 and 2 accounts and Study 3 questionnaire results suggested that falling in love was preceded by frequent reported incidences of discovering other's liked the self and noticing other's desirable characteristics (appearance and personality); moderate incidences of perceived similarity, propinquity and `special falling-in-love processes' (readiness, specific cues, arousal/unusualness, mystery, isolation); and relatively low reported incidences of filling needs and social influence. These patterns contrast with those suggested by the general-attraction and mate-selection literatures. Falling-in-friendship accounts, on the other hand, gave relatively more emphasis to similarity and propinquity, but somewhat less to reciprocal liking, other's desirable characteristics, needs, and the special falling-in-love processes.
The 80 partners from 40 romantic relationships were independently interviewed using the RIT procedure with regard to the turning points of their respective relationships; 26 types of turning points were found, which reduced to 14 supra-types. These supra-types differed in their association with relational commitment, with some events strongly positive, some strongly negative, and others relatively modest in reported change in commitment. About half of the turning points involved explicit metacommunication between the relationship parties, but the likelihood of relationship talk varied by turning point type. About half of the 759 identified turning points were agreed upon by relationship partners, but agreement differed depending on turning point type. Neither partner agreement nor the presence of explicit metacommunication was related to the respondent's current satisfaction with the relationship. However, the proportion of total turning points that were negative correlated negatively with current satisfaction. Two turning point events, Exclusivity and Disengagement, individually differentiated more from less satisfied relationship parties.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between naturally occurring changes in people's impressions and their recollections of themselves, close others, and their relationship. It was reasoned that (a) reconstructing the past consists primarily of characterizing it as similar to, or different from, the present; (b) people employ implicit theories of personal stability to make this judgment; and (c) when these theories imply stability, people may overestimate the similarity between the past and the present. In an initial session, subjects rated themselves, their dating partner, and their relationship on dimensions that people expect to be stable over time. Two months later, subjects made current evaluations on the same dimensions and recalled their earlier ratings. Subjects whose impressions became more favorable over time recalled more positive evaluations than they had provided originally, and those whose impressions became less favorable recalled more negative evaluations. Finally, subjects recalled their causal attributions for their partner's behavior as being more consistent with their current impressions than was the case. In general, subjects overestimated the similarity between the present and the past.
This article presents a construct validation of a love scale based upon a triangular theory of love. The article opens with a review of some of the major theories of love, and with a discussion of some of the major issues in love research. Next it briefly reviews selected elements of the triangular theory of love, according to which love can be understood as comprising three components—intimacy, passion, and decision/ commitment. Then the article presents two studies constituting the construct validation of the love scale. The construct validation comprises aspects of internal validation—determination of whether the internal structure of the data is consistent with the theory—and external validation—determination of whether the scale based on the theory shows sensible patterns of correlations with external measures. The data are generally, but not completely supportive of the utility of the triangular love scale.
The Love Attitudes Scale (LAS) is a well-standardized measure of six of Lee's (1973) love styles. The LAS has six sub-scales, each with seven items. Several researchers have selected subsets of the items to create very brief versions of the LAS; however, no brief version has been fully validated. To satisfy the need for brief love scales, we selected the best four of seven items per subscale, using a large data collection, and began the process of restandardization. Three studies, with over 2700 participants, are reported that yielded two new short forms of the LAS, one with 4-item and one with 3-item subscales. The data indicate that these versions have even stronger psychometric properties than the original scale. The LAS: Short Form should be suitable for researchers who need a brief love scale as part of a battery of relationship measures.
Assessed 5 measures of love: the Love Attitudes Scale, the Triangular Theory of Love Scale, the Passionate Love Scale, the Relationship Rating Form, and a measure of love and attachment (Shaver & Hazan, 1987). The measures were given to 391 unmarried college students. Correlations revealed predictable relations among the subscales; however, psychometric analyses revealed problems in some of the measures. Factor analysis yielded 6 factors for the Love Attitudes Scale and 1 for the Passionate Love Scale, similar to previous research. Results for the Triangular Theory of Love Scale and for the Relationship Rating Form suggest strong interdependency among each measure's subscales. Factors analysis of all subscales together yielded 5 distinct factors, reflecting themes of passionate love, closeness, ambivalence, secure attachment, and practicality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Study 1 identified a 3-dimensional latent structure of the prototype of love, based on factor analyzing centrality ratings of 68 prototypical features of love identified by B. Fehr (see record
1989-04996-001); we labeled these
Passion, Intimacy, and
Commitment. Studies 2 and 3 cross-validated this result with new samples. Study 4 showed convergent and discriminant validity of scales based on these dimensions and compared results with the centrality-rating method to an alternative prototype-relevant method. Study 5 found convergent and discriminant validity with a version of R. J. Sternberg's (1988) Triangular Love Scale. Study 5 also obtained the same 3-dimensional structure for both people's concept of love and descriptions of their own love relationships but the emphasis among dimensions corresponded only moderately between concept and descriptions. Study 6 showed correspondences between prototype-feature dimensions and love styles (C. Hendrick & S. Hendrick, see record 73:13421; J. A. Lee, 1977). Study 7 examined a shortened scale for the 3 dimensions and replicated the main results of Study 6 with that scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We studied initial and long-term outcomes of speed-dating over a period of 1 year in a community sample involving 382 participants aged 18–54 years. They were followed from their initial choices of dating partners up to later mating (sexual intercourse) and relating (romantic relationship). Using Social Relations Model analyses, we examined evolutionarily informed hypotheses on both individual and dyadic effects of participants' physical characteristics, personality, education and income on their dating, mating and relating. Both men and women based their choices mainly on the dating partners' physical attractiveness, and women additionally on men's sociosexuality, openness to experience, shyness, education and income. Choosiness increased with age in men, decreased with age in women and was positively related to popularity among the other sex, but mainly for men. Partner similarity had only weak effects on dating success. The chance for mating with a speed-dating partner was 6%, and was increased by men's short-term mating interest; the chance for relating was 4%, and was increased by women's long-term mating interest. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The current study examined whether desired personality influences face preference. Pairs of composite faces were made based on the faces that individuals differing in desired partner personality found most attractive. One composite represented a face most attractive to those desiring a particular trait and the other a face most attractive to those not desiring the same trait. Pairs were presented to different participants to ascertain whether the composites reflected the desired personality of the original raters. For several traits the composites did differ in perceived personality indicating that the personality desired in a partner is reflected in face preference: if a trait is desired then faces perceived to possess that trait are found more attractive than faces which do not possess that trait. These findings cast new light on the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype. What an individual desires in partner reflects what they consider “good”, and they find faces reflecting these desired traits as attractive – “what is good is beautiful”. Possessing personality traits that are attractive may be causal in making a face attractive.
To investigate the choices that people make in dating partners, we analyzed data provided by HurryDate, a commercial dating service aimed at adult singles living in major metropolitan areas. Here, we report data from 10,526 participants in HurryDate sessions, in which roughly 25 men and 25 women interacted with each other for three minutes and subsequently indicated which of the people they met they would be interested in having contact with in the future. We had general survey information collected by HurryDate for all the participants and additional survey information for 2,650 participants. Our main findings are that (1) HurryDate interactions are driven primarily by generally agreed-upon mate values and less by niche-based or assortative patterns, (2) the agreed-upon mate values for both men and women derive almost exclusively from physically observable attributes like attractiveness, BMI, height, and age and are not substantially related to harder-to-observe attributes such as education, religion, sociosexuality, having children, or desiring future children, and (3) small positive assortative trends arise in the areas of race and height. Our results provide rare behavioral evidence regarding people's preferences in dating partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)