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

Authors
Citation
H. Lamm et U. Wiesmann, SUBJECTIVE ATTRIBUTES OF ATTRACTION - HOW PEOPLE CHARACTERIZE THEIR LIKING, THEIR LOVE, AND THEIR BEING IN LOVE, Personal relationships, 4(3), 1997, pp. 271-284
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology, Social
Journal title
ISSN journal
13504126
Volume
4
Issue
3
Year of publication
1997
Pages
271 - 284
Database
ISI
SICI code
1350-4126(1997)4:3<271:SAOA-H>2.0.ZU;2-2
Abstract
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).