Saturday, March 8, 2008

Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love and Love styles

You should be able to find several indispensable facts about Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love in the following paragraphs. If there's at least one fact you didn't know before, imagine the difference it might make. If you don't have accurate details regarding Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don't let that happen: keep reading.

In the triangular theory of love, love is characterized by three elements: intimacy, passion and commitment. Each of these elements can be present in a relationship, producing the following combinations:

Liking or friendship (intimacy)
Infatuation or limerence (passion)
Empty love (commitment)
Romantic love (intimacy+passion)
Companionate love (intimacy+commitment)
Fatuous love (passion+commitment)
Consummate love (intimacy+passion+commitment)

Love styles - Susan Hendrick and Clyde Hendrick developed a Loves Attitude Scale based on John Alan Lee's theory called Love styles. Lee identified six basic theories that people use in their interpersonal relationships:

Eros (love) — a passionate physical love based on physical appearance
Ludus — love is played as a game; love is playful
Storge — an affectionate love that slowly develops, based on similarity
Pragma — pragmatic love
Mania — highly emotional love; unstable; the stereotype of romantic love
Agape — selfless altruistic love; spiritual

Hendrick and Hendrick found men tend to be more ludic and manic, whereas women tend to be storgic and pragmatic. Relationships based on similar love styles were found to last longer. In 2007, researchers from the University of Pavia led by Dr Enzo Emanuele have provided evidence of a genetic basis for individual variations in Lee's loving styles, with Eros being linked to the dopamine system and Mania to the serotonin system

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love.

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