PICNICS, FLOWERS, AND MOONLIGHT STROLLS - AN EXPLORATION OF ROUTINE LOVE BEHAVIORS

This study focused on the behavioral aspect of love, with a purpose of explicating routine behaviors associated with love. A 37-item Love Be haviors Scale was created to explicate those behaviors indicative of e xpressing love towards a romantic partner. Analysis of the resulting f actor matrix yielded a reliable five-factor structure of the behaviors -Mutual Activity, Special Occasion, Offerings, Selfless, Sacrifices. A lthough both genders considered the behaviors to be love-related, wome n placed greater emphasis on the behaviors than men. Individuals who h ad never been in love also perceived the behaviors as love-related. Pa rticipants also indicated 13 additional behaviors which should be incl uded in the Love Behaviors Scale.