SUBJECTIVE DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION - SELF-PERCEIVED CAUSES OF THE RISE AND DECLINE OF LIKING, LOVE, AND BEING IN LOVE

Eighty-one female students at a German university were asked to indica te in writing (a) how they would come to like, love, and be in love wi th someone, and (b) how in their case liking, loving, and being in lov e with someone would come to an end. The responses were analyzed using a comprehensive list of 117 determinants developed for this study, wh ich were grouped into four causal categories-P (person), O (other), P x O (relational), and E (environmental) conditions. Regarding the rise of attraction, the most frequent determinant for liking and for being in love was the existence of positive attributes of O (69% and 63%); for love, it was the existence of positive feelings from O (29%). Rega rding the decline of attraction, the most frequent determinant for lik ing was negative behavior on O's part (42%); for love, abuse of one's trust by O (25%); and for being in love, disillusionment with regard t o O (44%). Further analyses (including ANOVAs) involved the mean frequ encies for the four causal categories. Concerning the rise of attracti on sentiments, P causes were predominant for love and O causes were pr edominant for liking and for being in love; P x O causes were particul arly infrequent for being in love. Concerning the decline of attractio n sentiments, only for liking was one causal category predominant (O c auses). E causes were hardly mentioned for both the rise and the decli ne focus. The findings are discussed in the context of both the more t raditional research on ''objective'' determinants of attraction and, i n particular, of recent research on the subjective (common-sense or im plicit) understanding of liking, love, and being in love.