ArticlePublisher preview available

Can You Get the Magic Back? The Moderating Effect of Passion Decay Beliefs on Relationship Commitment

Authors:
Kathleen L. Carswell
Kathleen L. Carswell
Kathleen L. Carswell
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Eli J. Finkel
Eli J. Finkel
Eli J. Finkel
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

The present research introduces the construct of a decay theory of passion—a lay belief that romantic passion decline is irreversible—and investigates how this construct interacts with existing levels of passion for one’s romantic partner to predict lower relationship commitment and greater pursuit of romantic alternatives. Across three studies employing experimental and nonexperimental procedures—and a set of meta-analytic syntheses including additional studies—results generally supported the hypotheses that, although low passion is linked to lower commitment and greater pursuit of romantic alternatives, such effects are stronger when adherence to decay beliefs is high rather than low. These effects tended to be independent of effects of destiny and growth theories (Knee, 1998), a related set of lay theories in the domain of relationships. Mediated moderation analyses revealed that the moderating effect of decay theories on relationship commitment mediates the moderating effect of decay theories on the link between low passion and the pursuit of romantic alternatives. Discussion addresses the possibility that changing one’s beliefs surrounding the nature of romantic passion may be an important, but previously overlooked, means for preventing one from prematurely abandoning an otherwise satisfying relationship.
A preview of this full-text is provided by American Psychological Association.
Learn more
Content available from Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES
Can You Get the Magic Back? The Moderating Effect of Passion Decay
Beliefs on Relationship Commitment
Kathleen L. Carswell and Eli J. Finkel
Northwestern University
The present research introduces the construct of a decay theory of passion—a lay belief that romantic passion
decline is irreversible—and investigates how this construct interacts with existing levels of passion for one’s
romantic partner to predict lower relationship commitment and greater pursuit of romantic alternatives. Across
three studies employing experimental and nonexperimental procedures—and a set of meta-analytic syntheses
including additional studies—results generally supported the hypotheses that, although low passion is linked
to lower commitment and greater pursuit of romantic alternatives, such effects are stronger when adherence
to decay beliefs is high rather than low. These effects tended to be independent of effects of destiny and growth
theories (Knee, 1998), a related set of lay theories in the domain of relationships. Mediated moderation
analyses revealed that the moderating effect of decay theories on relationship commitment mediates the
moderating effect of decay theories on the link between low passion and the pursuit of romantic alternatives.
Discussion addresses the possibility that changing one’s beliefs surrounding the nature of romantic passion
may be an important, but previously overlooked, means for preventing one from prematurely abandoning an
otherwise satisfying relationship.
Keywords: alternatives, commitment, implicit theories, lay beliefs, passion
Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000147.supp
“There lives within the very flame of love / A kind of wick or snuff
that will abate it.”
—Hamlet, 4.7.112–113
Can romantic passion, once lost, recover? Depending on your
answer to this question, you might envision very different futures
for a relationship that has lost some of its initial fire. Passion for
one’s partner is an important predictor of commitment and deci-
sions to marry and divorce, and it is negatively linked to pursuit of
romantic alternatives (Allgeier & Wiederman, 1991;Drigotas,
Safstrom, & Gentilia, 1999;Gigy & Kelly, 1993;Gonzaga, Kelt-
ner, Londahl, & Smith, 2001;Hendrick & Hendrick, 2002;Le-
wandowski & Ackerman, 2006;Simpson, Campbell, & Berscheid,
1986). Given the cultural importance placed on the experience of
passion in major relationship decisions (Hatfield, Rapson, & Mar-
tel, 2007), experiencing a lack of romantic passion may be a
harbinger of relationship doom in contemporary Western cultures,
especially if this lack of passion is not expected to improve.
Not everybody should be equally vulnerable to the adverse
relationship effects of experiencing low passion, however. In the
present research, we test the hypothesis that believing that a
decline in passion for one’s partner is irreversible, which we refer
to as a decay belief (or decay lay theory) of passion, moderates the
commitment-eroding effects of low passion. We also test the
hypothesis that this moderating effect of decay beliefs on commit-
ment predicts an increased likelihood of pursuing alternative rela-
tionships to compensate for the lack of passion.
The Associations of Romantic Passion With Relationship
Commitment and (Reduced) Pursuit of Alternatives
Romantic passion refers to “an intense longing for union with
the other” (Hatfield & Walster, 1978, p. 9). Both cultural and
evolutionary perspectives suggest that passionate love is positively
linked to relationship commitment and negatively linked to pursuit
of romantic alternatives. In Western cultures, passion for a roman-
Editor’s Note. Jeffry A. Simpson served as the action editor for this
article. —KK
This article was published Online First September 20, 2018.
Kathleen L. Carswell and Eli J. Finkel, Department of Psychology, and
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
This research was supported in part by a fellowship from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and a Graduate
Research Grant from Northwestern University to Kathleen L. Carswell.
The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the SSHRC. The authors thank
Christine Daly, Alyssa Rodriguez, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Jamie Ramsey,
Mark Fishman, Priscilla Chan, Rachel Traisman, and Serena Patel for their
assistance with data collection.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kathleen
L. Carswell, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Swift Hall
Room 405, Evanston, IL 60208-2710. E-mail: Kathleen-Carswell@u
.northwestern.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes
© 2018 American Psychological Association 2018, Vol. 115, No. 6, 1002–1033
0022-3514/18/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000147
1002
... For example, people might differ in the extent to which they believe that relationships can grow and change (Canevello & Crocker, 2011;Cobb et al., 2013), that passion decay is inevitable in relationships (Carswell & Finkel, 2018), that soulmates exist (Franiuk et al., 2012), that disagreement between partners is an indication that there is something wrong in the relationship (Cramer, 2004;Zagefka & Bahul, 2021), and people might also differ in their marriage ideals (Lam et al., 2016). ...
Lay Beliefs about the Possibility of Finding Enduring Love: A Mediator of the Effect of Parental Relationship Quality on Own Romantic Relationship Quality
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2022
This paper tested mechanisms that explain why and how relationship quality between parents might impact on later romantic relationship quality of adult children. In both the pilot (N = 119) and the main (N = 684) study, a model fit the data well whereby perceived “parental relationship quality” predicted “positive lay theories” about romantic love. This, in turn, predicted “secure attachment” to the romantic partner, which in turn predicted “relationship satisfaction” with the romantic relationship. Findings suggest that lay theories about finding enduring love are an important mediator of effects of parental relationships on later adult relationships.
View
... A number of lay beliefs about romantic relationships have previously been studied. These romance-relevant beliefs include ideas such as disagreement in relationships is destructive, mindreading is expected, the couple should be sexually perfect, sexes are different, partners cannot change (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982), partners are either meant for each other or not (Knee, 1998), and love finds a way (Sprecher & Metts, 1989; for further lay beliefs, see Carswell & Finkel, 2018;Cramer, 2004;Crocker et al., 2017;Franiuk et al., 2012). ...
Lay Beliefs About Romantic Relationships: A Mediator of the Effect of Family Dysfunction on Romantic Relationship Satisfaction
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2021
  • J ADULT DEV
This paper tested why people differ with regard to whether they believe it is possible to find enduring love. Variations were assumed to be due to differences in people's experiences. Those who experienced dysfunction in their family of origin and who did not have positive relationships role-modelled to them were expected to be less likely to have positive lay beliefs about romantic relationships. Positive lay beliefs, in turn, were hypothesised to impact on dysfunction in own romantic relationships later on in life, which were in turn expected to affect relationship satisfaction. In other words, positive lay beliefs were tested as one potential mechanism through which family dysfunction whilst growing up impacts on relationship dysfunc-tion in later adult life. This paper presents a pilot study (N = 176) which introduces a measure for 'positive lay beliefs about romantic relationships', and finds this measure to be associated, as expected, with dysfunction in the family of origin. The main study (N = 435) then tested the full hypothesised model (family-of-origin dysfunction → positive lay beliefs → romantic relationship dysfunction → relationship satisfaction) with structural equation modelling, and found that the model fitted the data very well, confirming the hypotheses. It was concluded that lay beliefs about whether or not it is possible to find enduring love are an important mediator of the effects of family-of-origin dysfunction on later romantic relationship satisfaction.
View
For imagination or disillusionment? The social compensation and social enhancement effects on dating anxiety for online daters who fear being single
Article
  • Apr 2024
  • COMPUT HUM BEHAV
While some people choose to remain single, dating relationships and marriage remain dominant social expectations in many societies. This societal pressure can exacerbate the fear of being single, creating a vulnerable psychological state. Online dating provides opportunities for those who fear being single to meet new people and develop romantic relationships. And yet, we know little about how online daters' fear of being single is related to their well-being and how it could be alleviated or enhanced through online dating. Drawing on research on the social compensation and enhancement effects of the internet, this study proposes a path model investigating how the fear of being single was enhanced to affect online daters’ well-being negatively and alleviated to contribute to well-being positively. An online survey of 505 Chinese heterosexual online dating application users revealed that the fear of being single was positively and directly associated with dating anxiety. Further, the fear of being single was related to increased imagined interaction through sexual relationship motivation. Surprisingly, it was related to decreased romantic disillusionment through increased romantic relationship motivation, showing a compensation effect. Romantic disillusionment, but not imagined interaction, was positively associated with dating anxiety. This study extends research on the social compensation and enhancement effects to online dating contexts. It contributes a framework that explains how a vulnerable psychological state is related to online daters’ well-being through motivational tendencies (sexual relationship vs. romantic relationship) and cognitive characteristics (imagined interaction vs. romantic disillusionment).
View
Does it pay to invest in your couple relationship?
Article
  • Sep 2023
Objective The objective of the study is to examine the efficacy of relationship investment tactics in improving relationship satisfaction. Background Physical and mental health are affected by the quality of the couple relationship. Accordingly, bolstering the couple relationship and enhancing relationship satisfaction is of crucial importance for both partners' well‐being. Using relationship investment tactics may represent a behavioral solution for elevating the quality of the couple bond as well as their satisfaction from their relationship. Method A cross‐sectional research design was adopted. The associations between demographic characteristics, relationship investment tactics, and relationship satisfaction were tested using a path analysis. Results Employing tactics of emotional gestures, material and instrumental gestures, giving space, and shared activities were found to be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Using tactics of sex and self‐beautification and helping the partner's family and friends did not entail heightened satisfaction. Conclusion Relationships can be improved and transformed by employing relationship investment tactics described in this research report. Implications The results indicate that behavioral tactics and patterns, which are easy, simple, and usually free, may be employed to enhance relationship satisfaction. Couple therapists may consider advising clients as to how to prevent relationship decline and helping clients when encountering relationship difficulties by employing these relationship investment tactics.
View
Sexual beliefs in couple relationships: Exploring the pathways of mindfulness, communication, and sexual functioning on sexual passion and satisfaction
Article
  • Jul 2023
  • FAM PROCESS
Two types of sexual beliefs, growth and destiny, have been found in past research to be differentially associated with sexual and relationship outcomes; however, past research has not explored these beliefs with dyadic data nor considered common intervening variables that might be pathways through which beliefs influence outcomes. Consequently, using the sexual wholeness model, we analyzed how couples' specific sexual beliefs (growth and destiny) influenced their sexual mindfulness, communication, and functioning within their couple relationships and how each of these variables influenced sexual satisfaction and harmonious sexual passion. Using a national sample of dyadic data from 964 sexually active individuals (482 heterosexual couples) who had been in a committed relationship for at least 2 years, we evaluated an actor/partner structural equation model with distinguishable dyads. We found that while sexual growth and destiny beliefs had a significant association with sexual mindfulness, communication, and functioning for both partners, sexual beliefs had no direct association with sexual satisfaction and harmonious sexual passion. Because growth beliefs had strong associations with sexual communication, it may be beneficial to help couples identify their implicit beliefs and encourage the development of sexual growth beliefs.
View
Investigating Social Benefits of Long-Distance Romantic Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Preprint
Full-text available
  • Sep 2022
Long-distance romantic relationships (LDRRs) have grown increasingly common due to career-related necessity and the proliferation of digital technologies. We sought to understand how LDRRs differed from individuals in cohabitating romantic relationships (CRRs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a multinational, six-wave dataset collected during the beginning of the pandemic (Nobservations = 2,954), we hypothesized an interaction whereby spending more time with one’s partner than was typical would lead to increased passion and decreased conflict for LDRRs, but decreased passion and increased conflict for CRRs. However, we found, regardless of relationship type, spending more time with one’s partner led to better outcomes. Nevertheless, LDRRs reported less conflict and more passion than those in CRRs. These associations remained consistent across case-control matched models and models adjusting for theoretically-relevant covariates. While LDRRs navigate periods of uncertainty better than CRRs, spending more time with one’s partner, irrespective of the arrangement, is ultimately beneficial.
View
Predicting romantic interest during early relationship development: A preregistered investigation using machine learning
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2022
There are massive literatures on initial attraction and established relationships. But few studies capture early relationship development: the interstitial period in which people experience rising and falling romantic interest for partners who could—but often do not—become sexual or dating partners. In this study, 208 single participants reported on 1,065 potential romantic partners across 7,179 data points over 7 months. In stage 1, we used random forests (a type of machine learning) to estimate how well different classes of variables (e.g., individual differences vs. target-specific constructs) predicted participants’ romantic interest in these potential partners. We also tested (and found only modest support for) the perceiver × target moderation account of compatibility: the meta-theoretical perspective that some types of perceivers experience greater romantic interest for some types of targets. In stage 2, we used multilevel modeling to depict predictors retained by the random-forests models; robust (positive) main effects emerged for many variables, including sociosexuality, sex drive, perceptions of the partner’s positive attributes (e.g., attractive and exciting), attachment features (e.g., proximity seeking), and perceived interest. Finally, we found no support for ideal partner preference-matching effects on romantic interest. The discussion highlights the need for new models to explain the origin of romantic compatibility.
View
Using Robots at Work during the COVID‐19 Crisis Evokes Passion Decay: Evidence from Field and Experimental Studies
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2022
The growing trend of introducing robots into employees’ work lives has become increasingly salient during the global COVID‐19 pandemic. In light of this pandemic, it is likely that organizational decision‐makers are seeing value in coupling employees with robots for both efficiency‐ and health‐related reasons. An unintended consequence of this coupling, however, may be an increased level of work routinization and standardization. We draw primarily from the model of passion decay from the relationship and clinical psychology literature to develop theory and test a model arguing that passion decays as employees increasingly interact with robots for their work activities. We demonstrate that this passion decay leads to an increase of withdrawal behavior from both the domains of work and family. Drawing further from the model of passion decay, we reveal that employees higher in openness to experience are less likely to suffer from passion decay upon more frequent interactions with robots in the course of work. Across a multi‐source, multi‐wave field study conducted in Hong Kong (Study 1) and a simulation‐based experiment conducted in the United States (Study 2), our hypotheses received support. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
View
Valentine’s Day Mindset
Article
  • Feb 2019
When my husband and I were dating, I told him that love was like a watercolor painting. “Once it's ruined,” I said, “you can't fix it.” I explained that one wrong stroke in a watercolor was tragic because, when applying pigment to white paper, you can't lighten what's already dark. “And that's how relationships work,” I said. But Jason was skeptical. Why wasn't love, he wondered, more like an oil painting? Why can't you rework a section of your relationship that isn't turning out so well, layering on the paint as thickly as needed, to make it more beautiful?
View
What fuels passion? An integrative review of competing theories of romantic passion
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2021
In an integrative review, we examine four theories and models of romantic passion to determine what causes feelings of romantic passion. Although a growing consensus has emerged for the definition of romantic passion, we suggest that this is largely not the case for the source of romantic passion. We outline how four different perspectives—Limerence Theory, the Rate of Change in Intimacy Model, the Self‐Expansion Model, and the Triangular Theory of Love—propose four different potential sources of romantic passion and review empirical support in favor and against each. For each of these perspectives, we additionally outline the predicted trajectory of passion that follows from each theorized source of passion, as well as each perspective's view on the ability for passion to be controlled and up‐regulated. In identifying ways in which these theories and models offer conflicting predictions about the source of romantic passion, this review points to ways in which a more comprehensive model may be developed that integrates across these four perspectives.
View
Couples' Shared Participation in Novel and Arousing Activities and Experienced Relationship Quality
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2000
Using a newspaper questionnaire, a door-to-door survey, and 3 laboratory experiments, the authors examined a proposed effect of shared participation in novel and arousing activities on experienced relationship quality. The questionnaire and survey studies found predicted correlations of reported shared “exciting” activities and relationship satisfaction plus their predicted mediation by relationship boredom. In all 3 experiments, the authors found predicted greater increases in experienced relationship quality from before to after participating together in a 7-min novel and arousing (vs. a more mundane) task. Comparison with a no-activity control showed the effect was due to the novel–arousing task. The same effect was found on ratings of videotaped discussions before and after the experimental task. Finally, all results remained after controlling for relationship social desirability. Results bear on general issues of boredom and excitement in relationships and the role of such processes in understanding the typical early decline of relationship quality after the honeymoon period.
View
Love and the Commitment Problem in Romantic Relations and Friendship
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2001
On the basis of the proposition that love promotes commitment, the authors predicted that love would motivate approach, have a distinct signal, and correlate with commitment-enhancing processes when relationships are threatened. The authors studied romantic partners and adolescent opposite-sex friends during interactions that elicited love and threatened the bond. As expected, the experience of love correlated with approach-related states (desire, sympathy). Providing evidence for a nonverbal display of love, four affiliation cues (head nods, Duchenne smiles, gesticulation, forward leans) correlated with self-reports and partner estimates of love. Finally, the experience and display of love correlated with commitment-enhancing processes (e.g.. constructive conflict resolution, perceived trust) when the relationship was threatened. Discussion focused on love, positive emotion, and relationships.
View
How Implicit Theories of Sexuality Shape Sexual and Relationship Well-Being
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2016
How do people believe they can best maintain sexual satisfaction in their romantic relationships? In the current research, we draw upon the literature on implicit theories of relationships to develop and validate a scale examining 2 types of lay beliefs about how sexual satisfaction can be maintained over time. Individuals high in sexual growth beliefs think that sexual satisfaction is attained from hard work and effort, whereas individuals high in sexual destiny beliefs think that sexual satisfaction is attained through finding a compatible sexual partner. Across 6 studies (2 cross-sectional online studies, a 21-day daily experience study, 2 dyadic studies, and an experimental manipulation; N � 1,896), we find evidence that those higher in sexual growth beliefs experience higher relationship and sexual satisfaction, and have partners who are more satisfied. Conversely, the effects of sexual destiny beliefs on satisfaction are contingent upon signs of partner compatibility: When individuals high in sexual destiny beliefs experience greater sexual disagreements in their relationship, they experience lower relationship quality. These results are independent of general relationship implicit beliefs, providing evidence for the uniqueness of these 2 constructs and the importance of examining implicit beliefs in the domain of sexuality. Overall, these results provide novel evidence that individuals’ lay beliefs about maintaining sexual satisfaction are important for understanding the quality of their sex lives and relationships.
View
Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2015
This article evaluates a thesis containing three interconnected propositions. First, romantic love is a "commitment device" for motivating pair-bonding in humans. Second, pair-bonding facilitated the idiosyncratic life history of hominins, helping to provide the massive investment required to rear children. Third, managing long-term pair bonds (along with family relationships) facilitated the evolution of social intelligence and cooperative skills. We evaluate this thesis by integrating evidence from a broad range of scientific disciplines. First, consistent with the claim that romantic love is an evolved commitment device, our review suggests that it is universal; suppresses mate-search mechanisms; has specific behavioral, hormonal, and neuropsychological signatures; and is linked to better health and survival. Second, we consider challenges to this thesis posed by the existence of arranged marriage, polygyny, divorce, and infidelity. Third, we show how the intimate relationship mind seems to be built to regulate and monitor relationships. Fourth, we review comparative evidence concerning links among mating systems, reproductive biology, and brain size. Finally, we discuss evidence regarding the evolutionary timing of shifts to pair-bonding in hominins. We conclude there is interdisciplinary support for the claim that romantic love and pair-bonding, along with alloparenting, played critical roles in the evolution of Homo sapiens. © The Author(s) 2014.
View
The Relationship Closeness Induction Task
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 1999
Presents the Relationship Closeness Induction Task (RCIT), a structured self-disclosure procedure for the induction of relationship closeness in the laboratory. The RCIT consists of 29 questions, which become progressively more personal, and requires 9 min to administer. The validity of the RCIT has been previously demonstrated in several experiments, in which it fostered high levels of relationship closeness, induced high levels of group entitativity, and allowed participants adequate privacy and comfort. The RCIT affords the researcher with several advantages, such as theory-testing potential, avoidance of methodological pitfalls, and convenience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
View
Effects of an Intervention Designed to Enhance Romantic Relationship Excitement: A Randomized-Control Trial
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2013
Applying the positive-psychology paradigm to romantic relationships, this study used a randomized control trial to evaluate the effects of a 4-week online intervention designed to increase romantic-relationship excitement. One hundred one couples were randomly assigned to either a 4-week online relationship excitement program (n = 50) or a waiting list control condition (n = 51). The intervention provided couples with ideas for exciting activities and encouraged them to participate in shared exciting activities for 90 min/wk. An intention-to-treat analysis of covariance showed that the exciting-activities couples had significantly higher levels of romantic-relationship excitement, positive affect, and relationship satisfaction at postintervention. A follow-up assessment of couples in the experimental condition showed that as a group they continued to have significantly higher scores at 4 months postintervention than at baseline. The findings, which are consistent with learning, broaden-and-build, and self-expansion theories, indicate that it is possible to increase relationship excitement with a brief inexpensive online intervention, and that increasing excitement produces enduring beneficial effects on couple positive affect and relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
View
Effects of self-disclosure and responsiveness between couples on passionate love within couples
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2014
  • PERS RELATIONSHIP
Previous work shows that high self-disclosure interactions between couples can increase feelings of closeness within couples. We investigated whether couple friendships created in the lab through high self-disclosure and closeness-building activities would boost feelings of passionate love. In Study 1, couples randomly assigned to a high (vs. low) closeness induction task, either alone or with another couple, showed significantly greater increases in passionate love when they were highly self-disclosing with other couples. Study 2 showed that the responsiveness of the other couple mediated the effects of self-disclosure on increases in passionate love following high self-disclosure interactions with other couples. The creation of couple friendships may be an additional way to re-ignite feelings of passionate love in romantic relationships.
View
Lust, Attraction, Attachment: Biology and Evolution of the Three Primary Emotion Systems for Mating, Reproduction, and Parenting
Article
  • Mar 2000
  • J Sex Educ Ther
Humans and other mammals have evolved three primary emotion systems for mating, reproduction, and parenting: the sex drive, or lust, characterized by the craving for sexual gratification; attraction, characterized by increased energy and focused attention on one or more potential mates, accompanied in humans by exhilaration, intrusive thinking, and craving for emotional union; and attachment, characterized by close social contact and feelings of calm, comfort, and emotional union. Each emotion system is associated with a discrete constellation of brain circuits, and each evolved to direct a specific aspect of mating and reproduction. The psychophysiological properties of romantic attraction suggest that this emotion system is associated with increased levels of dopamine and norepinephrine and decreased levels of serotonin in the brain; a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is in progress to investigate the neural architecture of this primary emotion system. During the course of hominid evolution these three emotion systems became increasingly independent of one another, contributing to modern patterns of marriage, adultery, and divorce as well as to the worldwide incidence of stalking, homicide, suicide, and clinical depression associated with rejection in love.
View
Some Correlates of Romantic Love
Article
  • Aug 1967
Statistical analysis of the questionnaire responses of 1,079 white college students reveals substantial differences in the romantic orientation of males and females. Females are found to have more romantic experiences than males, even when age is controlled. The difference is reduced, however, with "closeness to marriage"; in fact, the reported figure for females undergoes a reversal. Sociologically, this reversal phenomenon is attributed to a directedness in female romantic orientation for which there appears to be no male counterpart. The implications of this sex difference are discussed in terms of current mate selection theories.
View
Measuring love in romantic relationships: A meta-analysis
Article
  • Sep 2011
  • J SOC PERS RELAT
The present study identifies the higher-order factors underlying the most popular measures of love in use today through meta-analytic factor analysis. Eighty-one studies representing 103 samples and 19,387 individuals provided data for the meta-analysis. The reported correlations between several commonly-used measures of love were aggregated across studies to form a meta-analytic correlation matrix, which was then subjected to principle components analysis. Factors suggesting general love, romantic obsession, and practical friendship emerged. Love was positively and obsession was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction and length.The results corroborate recent conceptualizations of love and point toward the need for measurement methods other than global self-report in the field of love research.
View