Ebook Conceptualizing and Defining Romantic Love
The day before her marriage, a woman sits alone in her bedroom. She is having one last doubt about her impending marriage. She and her partner have known each other for a couple of years. She wonders “Do I really love my partner? Maybe we are just really good friends.” She ponders if she even knows what it means to romantically love someone. She cannot even describe what she means when she tells her partner “I love you.” At this moment she just wants to know “what is romantic love?” This question was the basis and starting point of the current investigation. Its main purpose was to gain a better understanding of how individuals conceptualize romantic love and what emotions, behaviors, and attitudes are considered to be a part of romantic love.
Additionally, it is believed that some of people’s expectations about romantic love were identified by studying how individuals conceptualize it. For this study, romantic love was defined as the love experienced between two individuals in an exclusive relationship. Some examples of exclusive relationships are dating exclusively, being engaged, and being married. It was believed that this definition of romantic love allowed the study to focus on romantic love as opposed to other types of love.
Researchers have proposed different theories about love (e.g.; Hatfield & Rapson, 1993; Lee, 1973; Sternberg, 1986). Lee’s (1973) typology of love describes different ways that individual’s approach and experience love, and has been used to explain numerous approaches to love, from people who view love as a playful game to individuals who approach love more like a friendship. Six different types of love are described by Lee’s typology: eros, storge, ludas, mania, agape, and pragma. Eros (i.e.;Page 8 love defined by its passion), storge (i.e.; loving someone like a friend), and ludas (i.e.; viewing love as a game and challenge) are the three primary types of love. The other three love styles, mania (i.e.; love defined by its extreme emotions and desire), agape (i.e.; love that is defined by an individual’s desire to give to their partner), and pragma (i.e.; a practical approach to love), are considered secondary types of love. Additional types of love can be formed by combining two primary or secondary types of love, or by combining one primary and one secondary type of love. In total, Lee’s typology details 27 different ways that individuals might approach love (Lee, 1973).
Another theory, Sternberg’s (1986) triangular theory of love, claims that there are three basic elements of love: passion, intimacy, and commitment/decision. Passion is described as what attracts someone to another person and motivates one to seek love. Intimacy is what makes someone feel close to, and bonded with, another person. Commitment/decision is described as an individual’s immediate decision to love another person and long-term decision to maintain that love. Sternberg details eight different types of love based upon whether or not the relationship has these three components, ranging from non-love (having none of the three components) to consummate love (having all three of components). While Sternberg (1986) describes romantic love as love with intimacy and commitment/decision and not passion, his description of consummate love (love with passion, intimacy, and commitment/decision) is closer to the definition of romantic love used in the current study. A more general definition of romantic love was chosen to allow participants to decide whether or not attributes related to passion are a part of romantic love. Individuals may feel that romantic love incorporates elements of passion, even though Sternberg (1986) did not believe this was the case.
Contents
1. Acknowledgements
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Study 1
- a. Methods
- i. Participants
ii. Measurements
iii. Procedure
b. Results and Discussion
- i. Grouping Analysis
ii. Factor Analysis
iii. Discussion
5. Study 2
- a. Methods
- i. Participants
ii. Measurements
iii. Procedure
b. Results and Discussion
- i. Grouping Analysis
ii. Factor Analysis
iii. Discussion
6. General Discussion
7. References
8. Tables
9. Appendixes
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