Correlates of love in intimate relationships across gender, sex of partner, marital status, and cultures

Correlates of love were analyzed using data from an on-going cross-cultural study of intimate relationships in multiple languages at http://web.whittier.edu/chill/ir. The online questionnaire asked about one's social background, attitudes and values, current intimate relationship (if any), and well-being. Participants were recruited in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico), South America (Argentina and Colombia), and Europe (Spain, Italy, and Romania). Others responded from 41 additional countries. Among the 3048 respondents, 71% were women, and 73% were in a relationship (74% opposite-sex and 26% same-sex, including 11% opposite-sex marriages and 9% same-sex marriages). Love was measured using a single-factor scale with 11 items from Rubin (1973), Sternberg (1986), and Lee (1973). For both sexes, love was positively correlated with perceptions of similarity, approval by parents and others, ratings of the partner's personal characteristics, frequency of communication, expressions of affection, and sexual satisfaction. These correlates were similar for both opposite-sex and same-sex unmarried samples, and for both opposite-sex and same-sex married samples, which were recruited in the US. They were also similar for unmarried opposite-sex samples that were recruited in seven other countries. In sum, correlates of love were similar across gender, sex of partner, marital status, and cultures of these countries.