SUBJECTIVE ATTRIBUTES OF ATTRACTION - HOW PEOPLE CHARACTERIZE THEIR LIKING, THEIR LOVE, AND THEIR BEING IN LOVE

Ninety-nine students (mostly women) at a German university were asked to write down how they could tell that they like someone, love someone , and are in love with someone (or, in other words, what characterized each sentiment if experienced by them). A taxonomy of 47 characterist ics (or indicators) was developed to code the responses for each of th e three sentiments. Most frequently mentioned were positive mood in th e other's presence (61% for liking and 53% for love) and arousal (62% for being in love). The most distinctive (or unique) characteristic of liking was desire for interaction with the other; of love, trust in t he other; and of being in love, arousal. Categorizing the characterist ics into a cognitive, an affective, and a behavioral level, a complex pattern of main effects and interaction effects was found through anal yses of variance. Gender differences were found but are not discussed because of the small male sample (n = 13). Our findings are discussed with respect to the scales developed by Rubin, Hatfield, and Sternberg , and they are placed in the context of recent research on subjective definitions of attraction sentiments (especially love).