Relationship between Romantic Love and Length of Time in Love among Korean Young Adults

Abstract

The present study examined how length of time in love influences idealistic and pragmatic views of romantic love as defined in Dion and Dion ( 1973). Subjects were 249 unmarried women attending a public address on marriage and love at the Seoul Young Men's Christian Association in Korea. Ages ranged from 20 to 30 yr., with a mean age of 24.8 yr. Attitudes toward romantic love were measured on nine question-items using a 5-point scale, which was a slightly modified version of Dion and Dion's (1973) Romantic Love Questionnaire. Subjects were divided into the four groups depending on the length of time in love; less than six months (Group 1, n = 70), between six months and one year (Group 2, 72 = 48), between one and two years (Group 3, lz = 54), and more than two years (Group 4, n = 77). An analysis of variance of mean ratings of summed responses to the 9 questions showed that the four groups were equally pragmatic in their attitudes towards romantic love (MI = 1.75, SD1 = .39; Mz = 1.70, SDz = .34; M3 = 1.76, SDs = .29; M4 = 1.74, SDs = 32; F = .30). However, the longer the women were in love, the less idealistic their view (MI = 1.67, SD1 = .38; M2 = 1.53; SD2 = .34; M3 = 1.50, SD:: = .37; M4 = 1.47, SD4 = 35; F = 4.16, + < .01). A subsequent Scheff6 test showed a significant difference only between groups in love for less than six months and over two years. The present results suggested that length of time in love affects only the idealistic view of romantic love. The findings were in line with those of Rubin who reported duration of love had slight effects on women, and also previous research by Hong and Bartley (1986) in their Australian survey.