The Psychology of Love: Exploring the Gender Differences in Unmarried and Married Couples

Abstract

This cross-sectional Indian study examined the gender differences in unmarried and married couples on variables of love (including passionate love, romantic love, & romantic obsession), closeness, trust, relationship satisfaction and life satisfaction, with the help of Passionate love scale (PLS), Love attitude scale short-form (Eros and mania subscales), Inclusion of the Other in self (IOS) scale, Trust scale (TS), Relationship Assessment scale (RAS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) respectively. The sample consisted of 200 participants (100 couples) i.e. unmarried (males=50; females=50) and married (males=50; females=50) couples. Results revealed that in case of unmarried as well as married couples, passionate love and romantic obsession was significantly high in females than in males. However, passionate love was significantly higher in unmarried couples than in married couples. For romantic obsession, no significant gender difference was found between unmarried and married couples. For romantic love, in case of unmarried couples, while no significant difference was found between males and females, in case of married couples, a significant difference was found, as males scored higher. For closeness, no significant differences were found in case of all the four groups. It was observed that in unmarried couples, males trusted their partners more than females did but on the other hand, it was females in married relationships who trusted their partners than males did.