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
Cant help falling in love
Endless Love
 Lesson Objectives
To investigate and understand:

Hendrick and Hendricks theory of love

Hatfields Passionate & Consumate Love
Sternbergs 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 game playing love
Mania possessive love
Pragma logical love
Agape selfless (altruistic) love
Storage companionate love
Eros erotic love
 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
Possessive
Psychologically trying to
tie the partner down
Logical
Treating love as a
rational process
Altruistic
Putting the other person
first
Companionate
Developing a close
meaningful
Erotic relationship
Sexual pleasure
 Sex differences
bewteen the different types of love.
(Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986)
Love type Description Sex
differences
Game playing Treating love like a Men more than
competition or game women
Possessive Women more than
Psychologically trying to
tie the partner down men
Logical Women more than
Treating love as a
rational process men
Altruistic No difference
Putting the other person
first
Companionate Women slightly
Developing a close
meaningful more than men
Erotic relationship
Sexual pleasure 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 attachment Intense absorption in another

Strong affection, loyalty, trust Intense attraction

& respect

Passion fades High levels of arousal

Close friends Strong emotional responses

Emotions deepen over time Intense emotions fade over

time
 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