Cate Boone and Pamela Regan, California State University, Los Angeles, United States
published in the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Love and Relationship Studies, 6-8 March, 2026
You can see the full video recording of this presentation at the YouTube channel of the International Institute of Love Studies
Introduction
Sociologist John Lee (e.g., 1973, 1977, 1988) proposed a typology of adult romantic love consisting of six different “love styles” or characteristic ways of responding (feeling, thinking, acting) toward love partners and in love relationships. This typology has produced a large body of empirical research primarily focused on the exploration of group (i.e., demographic) differences in love style.
The most commonly used scale to examine Lee’s theory was one created and further revised by Hendrick and Hendrick (1986) titled the Love Attitudes Scale. This measure conceptualizes the six love attitudes derived from the Lee love styles and assesses respondents’ endorsement of each love attitude. Based on the descriptions of the psychological characteristics of each love style as well as Hendrick and colleagues’ conceptualizations (1984), it is reasonable to predict that love styles might be correlated with cognitive variables such as relationship beliefs.
Thus, the goal of this study is to explore the association between love attitudes (i.e., eros, ludus, storge, pragma, mania, and agape) and two sets of interpersonal belief variables – romantic beliefs and dysfunctional relationship beliefs.
Methodology and Methods
Utilizing a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, participants completed standardized self-report measures of love attitudes, romantic beliefs, and dysfunctional relationship beliefs. Participants (N = 604) ranged in age from 18 to 69 years (M = 25.2, SD = 7.2) and primarily identified as female (67.9%) or male (30%). Recruitment took place on a predominately Latinx college campus, in Los Angeles, California. Most participants identified as Latinx/Hispanic (73.2%), followed by White/Caucasian (9%), Asian/Asian American (5.3%), Black/African American (4.3%), Middle Eastern (1.3%), American Indian (0.3%), and Other/multiethnic (6.3%). The majority (74.2%) reported a heterosexual orientation; 12.4% reported a bisexual orientation, 6.1% reported a gay or lesbian orientation, and 4.5% reported an “other” orientation.
Participants responded to three sets of items assessing the variables of research interest. The six love attitudes were assessed using the 42-item Love Attitudes Scale (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986; Hendrick et al., 1984). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. For each subscale, responses to each item are averaged and participants receive six scores.
The Romantic Beliefs Scale (Sprecher & Metts, 1989), consisting of 15 items, assessed participants’ endorsement of romantic beliefs. The scale’s items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, with 1 being strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree. Higher scores indicate stronger endorsement of romantic beliefs.
Lastly, endorsement of dysfunctional relationship beliefs was assessed by the 40-item Relationship Beliefs Inventory (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. For each subscale, responses to each item are averaged; thus, participants receive six scores.
Highlights of Results
Results revealed that love attitudes generally were associated with romanticism and dysfunctional relationship beliefs in a theoretically predictable way. For example, the love attitudes of eros and mania – which Lee (e.g., 1973) characterized as passionate, emotionally intense, and exclusively focused on the partner – were significantly positively correlated with endorsement of idealized romantic beliefs. Likewise, the more “positive” love attitudes—pragma, storge, and agape—were also significantly positively correlated with endorsement of idealized romantic beliefs. Also as hypothesized, mania and ludus – two love attitudes proposed to pose the greatest risk to relationship functioning (Lee, 1973), were significantly positively correlated with dysfunctional relationship beliefs.
Discussion and Conclusions
Prior to this study, little was known about the cognitive correlates of love attitudes. Our findings contribute to the field by demonstrating that love attitudes are, in fact, related to both romantic beliefs and dysfunctional relationship beliefs in a way that is consistent with Lee’s (e.g., 1973, 1988) theory and Hendrick and Hendrick’s (1986) valid measurement scale.
Erotic and manic love attitudes are characterized by passion and emotion which are qualities that may naturally correspond with stronger endorsement of romantic ideals. Accordingly, individuals whose love attitude is erotic or manic also endorse romantic beliefs. Storge may be positively associated with romantic beliefs due to its companionate nature in which partners think highly and positively of one another, and endorse romantic ideals about their relationship. In addition, agape was positively correlated with romantic beliefs likely because it combines aspects of both eros and storge, which are also positively correlated with romantic beliefs. A manic lover is prone to possessiveness, extreme emotions, and often sets highly unrealistic expectations for the relationship related to lower quality relationships. It was expected then that participants who endorsed mania also scored higher on such dysfunctional beliefs. Ludus is described as “game-playing” love, which involves low-commitment, conflict-free, and manipulative relationships, which parallels dysfunctional beliefs.
Future research might use longitudinal designs to assess individuals’ love attitudes at one point in time and then track changes in their belief systems (or vice versa) across later periods. Such studies could reveal whether shifts in love style influence shifts in cognitive beliefs about relationships, or whether changing beliefs work to refine an individual’s love style or contribute to the replacement of one love style with another.
References
Eidelson, R. J., & Epstein, N. (1982). Cognition and relationship maladjustment: Development of a measure of dysfunctional relationship beliefs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50(5), 715.
Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. S. (1986). A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 392-402.
Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. S., Foote, F, F. H., & Slapion-Foote, M. J. (1984). Do men and women love differently? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 177-195.
Lee, J. A. (1973). Colours of love: An exploration of the ways of loving. New Press.
Lee, J. A. (1977). A typology of styles of loving. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3, 173-182.
Lee, J. A. (1988). Love-styles. In R. J. Sternberg & M. L. Barnes (Eds.), The psychology of love (pp. 38-67). Yale University Press.
Sprecher, S., & Metts, S. (1989). Development of the ‘Romantic Beliefs Scale’ and examination of the effects of gender and gender-role orientation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6(4), 387-411.