Numerous researchers who are interested in the topic of love have investigated the six love styles that Canadian sociologist John Alan Lee (1933–2013) identified in the 1970s (Lee, 1973, 1976). His theories of love styles and the development of methods capable of investigating them made significant and original contributions to the field (Karandashev, 2022).

John Lee theoretically conceptualized six love styles and empirically identified them. Over the years of love research and publication, the original author’s descriptions of the six love styles he proposed have been condensed and reduced to some shortcuts. These truncated attributes have somewhat distorted Lee’s original meanings.

This is why I presented a more comprehensive description of these love styles in this and other articles. In other articles, I described the Eros and Ludus love styles, while here you’ll see a few excerpts from my books where I talk about the Storge love style in more depth.

Lee’s Theoretical Description of the Storge Love Style

“Individuals with the Storge love style tend to avoid self-conscious passion, slowly disclosing themselves and gradually building up affection and companionship, with the expectation of long-term commitment.”

(Excerpt from Karandashev, 2022, p. 78).

Lee’s Empirically Identified Characteristics of the Storge Love Style

Using the “love story card sort” method, in-depth interviews with 120 people gave about 100,000 data points. The simple form of factor analysis found 32 factors that clearly separated the six love styles. Lee used this analysis to portray the typical lovers of the following things about the Storge love style:

” Participants with the Storge style typically experience secure family environments in their childhood and usually have several siblings. They feel that their life is good, and they can rely on their friends. They believe that their love gradually extends from their deep friendship to sexual intimacy and commitment. They are not aware of their favorite physical type for a potential partner. For them, being with the beloved who is affectionate, companionable, has common interests and shares activities is more important than the attraction to each other.

They experience low mental preoccupation with their partner. They easily tolerate the temporary absence of the beloved and do not worry about the security of the relationship. A person with the Storge style does not like to engage in discussions about feelings of involvement. They tend to avoid extreme emotions and conscious deliberation about each other’s feelings. They gradually self-disclose themselves sexually. Later, when their relationships of Storge style evolve, they engage in sexual activities. It usually occurs when a lover and their partners feel mutual commitment.” 

(Excerpt from Karandashev, 2022, p. 81).

The Storge Love Style is a Love Type

This explanation demonstrates how the Storge love style is a distinctive collection of individual identities, attitudes, and behaviors displayed by men and women in romantic relationships. They describe the perspectives, encounters, manifestations, interactions, and behaviors of lovers. Empirically, these distinctive traits can be distinguished. The way they are connected typifies the typological structure of Storge.

So, the Storge love style is a type of love rather than a variable, how it is measured with the Love Attitude Scale (Hendrick & Henrick, 1986, 1998).