LOVESONGS IN THE UNITED-STATES AND CHINA - ON THE NATURE OF ROMANTIC LOVE

Prior research suggests that for Chinese as compared with Americans, l ove is more embedded and is less associated with intense desire. Love is defined as embedded when it is incorporated within a larger context , namely, the natural world and broad aspects of the relationship that entail devotion over time. This study included 42 popular Chinese lov esongs (half from Hong Kong and half from Mainland China) and 38 popul ar U.S. lovesongs. Findings indicated that Chinese songs depicted love as more embedded, but there were no cultural differences in expressio ns of intense desire. The Chinese lovesongs had more negative expectat ions about the outcome of the relationship and they conveyed more suff ering than did the U.S. lovesongs. These cultural differences and simi larities may be particular to romantic love and may not be common in o ther contexts or relationships. The findings point to the importance, but also the limits, of cultural influence on romantic love.