`True Love Ways': The Subjective Experience and Communication of Romantic Love

Abstract

Whereas previous research into romantic love has focused upon the traits of love objects, beliefs about love and/or types of loving relationships, these two studies examine the subjective experience of love and the manners in which love is communicated. In Study I seventy-six respondents participated in face-to-face interviews. Responses were content and cluster analysed. Cluster analysis revealed six `ways of romantic love': Collaborative Love, Active Love, Secure Love, Intuitive Love, Committed Love and Traditional Romantic Love. In Study 11185 respondents completed a questionnaire version of the Study I interview. Respondents then employed the six love clusters in self-coding their responses, providing representational validity for the previous cluster analysis. Further, a confirming cluster analysis - using a subset of the Study II data - provided construct validity for four of the six love clusters. A fifth cluster split into two new clusters. These studies support two general conclusions. First, love may be experienced in a variety of different ways: in terms of relational constructs, physiological responses, behavioural actions and/or non-verbal perceptions. Second, there is a strong coherence in lovers' experience of love and in their reports of how love is communicated.