Transcript Love and Marriage - Stmaryspsyweb's Weblog

Human Relationships
Love
Starter (name the artist/s)
“All you need is love”
 “A million love songs”
 “Love will tear us apart”
 “Do you love me”
 “This love”
 “Can you feel the love
tonight”
 “Can’t help falling in love”
 “Endless Love”

Lesson Objectives
To investigate and understand:
Hendrick and Hendrick’s theory of love
 Hatfield’s Passionate & Consumate Love
 Sternberg’s Triangular theory of love
 Evaluations

Liking vs. Loving
Problems associated with measuring love?
Rubin (1970) attachment, caring & intimacy
One of the first in this field, developed the ‘scales
of liking and loving’ as a way of measuring
the qualitatively different complex feelings of
love.
For example, which one is which?
I feel that _____________ is a very stable person.
I would do almost anything for _____________.
Types of love (Lee, 1973)
Lundus
 Mania
 Pragma
 Agape
 Storage
 Eros

game playing love
possessive love
logical love
selfless (altruistic) love
companionate love
erotic love
Sex differences
bewteen the different types of love.
(Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986)
Love type
Description
Game playing
Treating love like a
competition or game
Possessive
Logical
Altruistic
Companionate
Erotic
Psychologically trying to
tie the partner down
Treating love as a
rational process
Putting the other person
first
Developing a close
meaningful
relationship
Sexual pleasure
Sex
differences
Sex differences
bewteen the different types of love.
(Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986)
Love type
Description
Sex
differences
Game playing
Treating love like a
competition or game
Men more than
women
Psychologically trying to
tie the partner down
Women more than
men
Treating love as a
rational process
Women more than
men
Putting the other person
first
No difference
Possessive
Logical
Altruistic
Companionate
Erotic
Developing a close
meaningful
relationship
Sexual pleasure
Women slightly
more than men
No difference
found
Evaluative point…

Females then seem to prioritise on
friendships and practical aspects of love.
Males seem to prefer playful and
emotional love.

This would fit neatly with the ‘evolutionary
perspective’ - males and females have
different expectations of each other
Further evaluation

Cross cultural research by Hendrick & Hendrick
shows that different cultures have different
preferences for different types of love.

Who do you think was more likely to favour
altruistic and selfless love?
Students from Britain or students from Hong
Kong?
WHY?

These differences for styles of love would appear
to be shaped by socialisation.
Individualistic and collectivist cultures

Western societies appear to be more
individualistic. They make their own decisions
and take responsibility for their own lives.

Eastern societies – collectivist – they regard
themselves as part of their family/social gorup
and so all their decisions are based on other
people.
i.e. “What does your heart say” vs. “What will
other people say”.
Companionate and Passionate love

Hatfield (1988) made a distinction
between these two types of love.
Companionate Love
Passionate/Romantic
Love
Strong
Intense
attachment
absorption in another
Strong
affection, loyalty, trust Intense attraction
& respect
Passion
Close
fades
friends
Emotions
deepen over time
High
levels of arousal
Strong
emotional responses
Intense
time
emotions fade over
Evaluative point
However not many people fall neatly into
each stereotype
Triangular Theory of Love
Sternberg 1986

Passion – the driving force, involves romantic
elements and sexual attraction

Intimacy – the emotions and feelings of
closeness and bondedness

Commitment – thoughts, beliefs and intentions
to maintain the relationship
Triangular Theory of Love
Positive evaluations:

A variety of combinations are possible even when
components are absent.

This model illustrates how different types of love vary
over time.

Its components are not based on a all-or-none definition,
but rather but can be assessed on a continuum.

Research shows that of all three types, commitment is
the best predictor of relationship endurance and
satisfaction. (Whitely, 1993).
Negative evaluations:
Triangular Theory of Love

Love is subjective, meaning different
things to different people, even within a
relationship – which makes it difficult to
test empirically

Difficult to apply the theory to all cultures
e.g. with arranged marriages.
Negative evaluations:
Triangular Theory of Love

Individual differences - ,makes it difficult
to test love empirically.

Academics have questioned whether
intimacy is a separate component of the
model. Implications - there would no
longer be a triangle. Just passion and
commitment.
Triangular Theory of Love
For more points,

Compare the theory with other models.
For example…….
Past exam questions
Q. In the context of the triangular theory
of love, distinguish between romantic and
companionate love. (3 marks)
Q. With reference to the triangular theory
of love, distinguish between two types of
love. (3 marks)
Q. Describe and discuss the triangular
theory of love. (12 marks)
In the context of the triangular theory of love, distinguish between
romantic and companionate love. (3 marks)
[AO1 = 2, AO2 = 1]
AO1
 Romantic - involves passion (and intimacy)
 Companionate - involves commitment (and
intimacy)
AO2
 Valid distinction e.g. romantic love involves
stronger element of sexual attraction;
 romantic love more usually seen earlier in a
relationships whereas companionate love more
typical in a mature relationship.
With reference to the triangular theory of love, distinguish between
two types of love. (3 marks)
[AO1 = 2, AO2 = 1]
AO1
 Sternberg (1986) Consummate,
romantic, fatuous, companionate or empty
etc…
AO2
 Give examples to support, i.e. for the
children (empty), older couple
(consumate), newly weds (consumate)
Describe and discuss the triangular theory of love.
(12 marks)
[AO1 = 6, AO2 = 6]
AO1
 Describe triangular theory (Sternberg, 1986)
 Multidimensional model where type of love depends on
interaction between 3 components - passion, intimacy
and commitment and change over time
 Explain few types: consummate, infatuation, liking,
empty, romantic, companionate, fatuous.
Describe and discuss the triangular theory of love.
(12 marks)
AO2
 Advantages: Flexible with multiple combinations
 Should be assessed on a continuum
 Love is subjective – difficult to test - Love means
different things to different people, even within
a relationship;
 Cultural specificity and relevance to other
cultures, eg with arranged marriages.
 Other studies to compare and contrast