Love Research Articles

Comprehensive scoping review of research on intercultural love and romantic relationships

Despite the growing evidence that the modern world is more diverse and so is the nature of relationships that present in therapy, there remains paucity of empirical evidence on how cultural differences impact those in intercultural romantic ties. We conducted this comprehensive scoping review with the aim to outline the size and scope of existing research in the field of intercultural love and romantic relationships. We utilised a five-stage scoping review protocol provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) manual for synthesis of evidence for a scoping review to ensure the rigour, transparency, and replicability of our findings. We reviewed peer-reviewed articles across nine electronic databases as well as “snowballing” the literature from the reference lists. A total of 46 studies were included in this review. We found that the majority of studies approached intercultural relationships from the deficit perspective, focusing on the domains of cultural difference that bring challenges to the relationship. These included culture-rooted differences in parenting standards and gender role expectations, among others. Often, cultural differences were found to bring power impedance into the relationship. Open communication and flexibility were found as important coping strategies. Differences in native language posed challenges to emotional communication between partners. These findings demonstrate that intercultural relationships face an additional layer of challenges and complexities that have to be recognised in therapy. We propose four domains of transmodality relational competencies on the basis of our findings to inform culturally sensitive therapeutic practice.

Identifying Witnessed Suicides in National Violent Death Reporting System Narratives.

There is increasing attention to suicides that occur in view of others, as these deaths can cause significant psychological impact on witnesses. This study illuminates characteristics of witnessed suicides and compares characteristics of these deaths to non-witnessed suicides. We develop a codable definition of what constitutes witnessed (vs. non-witnessed) suicide. Our data include a sample of 1200 suicide descriptions from the 2003-2017 National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). We first developed criteria to identify probable cases of witnessed suicide. The coding scheme achieved 94.5% agreement and identified approximately 10% (n = 125) of suicides as witnessed. Next, we examined differences between witnessed and non-witnessed suicides in demographics, manner of death, and social/environmental factors using bivariate Chi-squared tests, multivariate logistic regression, and ANOVA. Witnessed suicide decedents were significantly more likely than non-witnessed suicide decedents to be male, younger, and members of a sexual minority, and to have died in living spaces by means of a firearm. Two thirds of witnesses were strangers to the decedents, while 23.2% were romantic partners or ex-partners of the decedents. Our coding method offers a reliable approach to identify witnessed suicides. While witnessed suicides are relatively infrequent, these deaths have profound impact on witnesses. Articulating the features of witnessed suicides may contribute to identifying potential risk mitigation strategies.

Belonging to the Ace Spectrum: Correlates of Cognitions, Feelings, and Desires of Ace Individuals

Abstract Introduction Asexuality is typically defined as a lack of sexual attraction, and yet this definition fails to include the multitude of experiences within the ace community. We explored the correlates of different cognitions, feelings, and desires reported by ace individuals. Methods Data for a cross-sectional study with 456 individuals from online ace communities (61.8% women; Mage = 24.62, SD = 6.98) were collected in 2019. Results Higher scores on the Asexuality Identification Scale (AIS) were associated with fewer experiences with romantic partners, more experiences with intimate affective relationships, and higher avoidant attachment. In contrast, sexual and romantic attractions were associated with more experiences with romantic partners. However, sexual attraction was associated with fewer experiences with non-sexual romantic relationships and lower AIS scores, whereas romantic attraction was associated with lower avoidant attachment and higher anxious attachment. The desire to have physically intimate romantic relationships was associated with more experiences with romantic partners, lower avoidant attachment, higher anxious attachment, and lower AIS scores. Lastly, the desire to have intimate affective relationships was associated with more experiences with solely affective relationships and higher anxiety attachment. Conclusions These findings show the importance of past experiences and individual differences in shaping the way ace individuals construe their identity, and experience feelings and desires. Policy Implications By highlighting the need to acknowledge diversity within the ace community, this study offers insights into how to increase awareness and develop more inclusive social policies.

Romantic Love is Not Only “Romantic”: A Grounded Theory Study on Love in Romantic Relationships

With romantic love having long been studied with a focus on the romantic component and how it is expressed, little is known about what love is as a feeling in romantic relationships from the recipient’s perspective. This study aimed to understand love as a feeling in romantic relationships by analyzing open-ended responses about what makes people feel loved by their romantic partner in a college sample of 462 undergraduates (age: M = 18.93, SD = 2.86; 77.92% female) and a community sample of 75 adults (age: M = 32.36, SD = 16.53; 93.18% female) using grounded theory methodology. Findings indicated that Positive responsiveness (to needs), Authentic connection, and A sense of stability were three core elements of love in romantic relationships. By comparing these three core categories (and their underlying categories and concepts) across both samples and demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, and household income), this study also provided preliminary evidence on the generalizability of this three-component framework: (1) all (core) categories were overlapping across two samples, and all concepts generated in the small community sample were a subset of those generated in the large college sample; (2) all categories and core categories were overlapping across gender, race, and household income, with “positive responsiveness” being the most common component across demographics consistently. This three-component framework of romantic love is consistent with love’s multifaceted nature, serves as an initial step toward integrating existing theoretical frameworks about love, and, if replicated, would inform relationship-focused interventions.

Parent-couple satisfaction, parent depression, and child mental health in families with autistic children.

Within two-parent households, the parent-couple subsystem (marital or romantic partner relationship) is posited to shape the mental health of both parents and children. Autistic children and their parents have an elevated-risk for mental health problems. The present study longitudinally examined the mediating role of the quality of the parent-couple relationship in time-ordered pathways between changes in the mental health problems of autistic children and in parent depression symptoms at a within-family level. Using four time points of data collected on 188 families of autistic children (aged 5-12 years) across 3 years, the bidirectional associations between parent-couple relationship satisfaction, parent depressive symptoms, and child internalizing and externalizing mental health problems were investigated. Two multi-group (grouped by parent gender) complete longitudinal mediation models in structural equation modeling using Mplus software were conducted. Parent-couple relationship satisfaction mediated: (1) the association between higher parent depressive symptoms and higher child internalizing mental health problems 12 months later for both mothers and fathers, and (2) the association between higher child externalizing mental health problems and higher father depression symptoms 12 months later. Father depression symptoms mediated a pathway from lower parent-couple satisfaction to higher child internalizing mental health problems 12 months later, and mother depression symptoms mediated the pathway from higher child externalizing mental health problems to lower parent-couple satisfaction 12 months later. Findings highlight the bidirectional and complex ways that parent and child mental health and the quality of the parent-couple relationship are entwined across time in families of autistic children. Family-wide interventions that address the needs of multiple family members and family systems are best suited to improve the mental health of parents and autistic children.

Communicative Behaviors of Public Secondary School Teachers of Cabadbaran City Division in Relation to Interpersonal Relationship

This research aimed to determine the communicative behaviors of public secondary school teachers of Cabadbaran City Division in relation to their interpersonal relationships with student and co-teachers. This study tested the significant relationship between teachers’ communicative behaviors and teachers’ interpersonal relationships. A descriptive-correlational design was used in this study. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to gather the needed data from 105 students and 164 teachers of all public secondary schools sampled as respondents and identified through Raosoft software and random sampling. In analyzing the data, frequency, percentage, weighted mean, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to determine the teachers’ communicative behaviors in relation to teachers’ interpersonal relationships developed among students and co-teachers categorized as friendship, love, hatred, and work relationships. Findings revealed that teachers’ communicative behaviors in relating with students and co-teachers always developed love, friendship, better working relationships as well as hatred. Further, revealed in this study was a significant relationship between teachers’ communicative behaviors and teachers’ interpersonal relationships among students and co-teachers. In conclusion, awareness of one’s communicative behaviors is critical in building harmonious interpersonal relationships within the workplace. It is therefore recommended that intervening activities be conducted to enhance awareness of one’s communicative behaviors that somehow communicates with others and subsequently results to either positive or negative interpersonal relationships

Impression Formation Following Self-disclosure of an Invisible (Non-apparent) Disability to a Romantic Partner

Impression Formation Following Self-disclosure of an Invisible (Non-apparent) Disability to a Romantic Partner

Measurement invariance of the short form compassionate love scale for a romantic partner and sexuality

Compassionate love (CL), a particular kind of love, is centred on enlarging beneficence to another. A short form to assess CL for a romantic partner (CLS-P-SF) was recently developed. The CLS-P-SF is a one-dimensional measure. In this study, we examined CLS-P-SF’s measurement invariance (MI) across gender and age, and the relationship of the CL with sexuality measures. There were 1184 Portuguese participants, 48% women and 52% men, aged between 18 to 79 (M = 37.36; SD = 16.89). Confirmatory factor analyses evidenced that the one latent dimension of the CLS-P-SF confirmed an acceptable fit to the data. MI, and internal consistency were adequate. This invariance permitted to perform meaningful latent average comparisons. The effect of gender and age were not significant. CLS-P-SF was positively associated with sexual desire, love is most important, sex demonstrates love, love comes before sex and satisfaction with sex life, and negatively associated with sex is declining and sociosexuality. Findings are discussed in their relationship with existent literature. The CLS-P-SF’s brevity makes it a promising tool for researchers and practitioners.

Sex, Gender and Class: An Analysis of Chilean Young People’s Intimate Life

This article analyzes some aspects of Chilean young people’s (aged 15–29) sex life according to sex and socioeconomic background. Using data from the Tenth National Youth Survey, descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out to test possible differences in sexual practices according to these variables. Results show that young Chileans are increasingly diversifying sexual practices. Differences in age at the first sexual relationship between men and women are also becoming less clear; likewise, differences found by socioeconomic background were also weak, suggesting that some practices are common across different groups of youth. The most significant differences found concern certain practices (oral and anal sex), the number of sexual partners men and women have, and the type of relationship (romantic partner, friend, acquaintance) in which sexual encounters take place. We conclude that young people’s sexual practices are increasingly being oriented toward self-exploration and personal satisfaction, and less toward the (traditional) goal of forming a family. Nonetheless, the existence of a “double standard” regarding sexual morals can still account for contrasting behaviors according to sex, suggesting the persistence of a gendered normativity. Also, sexual exploration often occurs without adequate information, reducing youngsters’ ability to reduce risks or prevent undesired consequences.

Too crowded to fall in love? The destination image trident versus social crowding

ABSTRACT Destination image is a well-established concept in tourism literature, given the intangible nature of tourism products, it is an essential asset for destinations as it plays a critical role in attracting and retaining tourists. However, despite growing crowding concerns in tourism marketing, the relationship between Destination image and Social Crowding remains unexplored. The current study models the relationships between Destination Image, Social Crowding and Destination Love in a direct, mediating and moderating manner. These relationships offer a holistic view of the impact of Social Crowding on destination image and consequently, destination love. To avoid bias, we used a simple random sampling method to collect data from tourists who visited Kashmir. The results indicated a negative relationship between the C-A-C framework and social crowding among tourists. However, the crowding and destination love relationship was positive-natured. This study acts as a theoretical glue to provide further explanation towards tourism and crowding literature.

Romantic relationship configurations and their correlates among LGBTQ+ persons: A latent class analysis.

Research comparing monogamous and non-monogamous relationships on well-being indicators across diverse populations have yielded inconsistent findings. The present study investigates sociodemographic characteristics, as well as personal and relational outcomes, across different relationship configurations. Data were drawn from an online community-based sample of 1,528 LGBTQ+ persons aged 18 years and older in Quebec, Canada. A latent class analysis was performed based on legal relationship status, relationship agreement, cohabitation status, and the seeking of extradyadic sexual and romantic partners on the internet. Class differences on sociodemographic characteristics and well-being and relationship quality indicators were examined. A five-class solution best fit the data, highlighting five distinct relationship configurations: Formalized monogamy (59%), Free monogamy (20%), Formalized open relationship (11%), Monogamous considering alternatives (7%) and Free consensual non-monogamies (3%). Cisgender women were more likely to engage in monogamous relationships than cisgender men, who were overrepresented in open relationships. Lower levels of perceived partner support were observed in both free monogamous and consensually non-monogamous relationships, the latter of which also showed lower levels of well-being. Consensual non-monogamy researchers exploring relationship outcomes should examine relationship facets that go beyond relationship structure or agreement. Variations in monogamies and non-monogamies, both consensual and non-consensual, may be present within each broad relationship configuration, as reflected in different personal and relational needs, which can then translate to better or poorer outcomes.

Anxiety, Depression, Coping Styles, and Perceived Social Support Among University Students: A Mediation and Moderation Analyses

This study examined the association between anxiety, depression, social support, and coping strategies, particularly among higher education students undergoing a distinct developmental transition phase and confronting substantial difficulties. A quantitative approach utilizing inquiry techniques such as surveys and experiments was used with a sample of six hundred eighty-five (685) higher education students enrolled at a State University. Based on the results, the researcher concluded that higher education students exhibited moderate levels of anxiety and depression. The study identified that these students engage moderately in problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance-focused coping, showing diverse strategies to address stress. They also reported moderate perceived social support, emphasizing the importance of relationships with family, friends, and significant others. A significant positive relationship was found between elevated anxiety levels and increased depressive symptoms. Coping styles were significant in mediating the impact of anxiety on depression, with problem-focused coping being a major mediator. Emotion-focused and avoidance-focused coping also significantly mediated this relationship. Contrary to expectations, perceived social support did not significantly moderate the relationship between anxiety and depression. Family support showed a trend toward moderating the anxiety-depression relationship, suggesting a potential influence that needs further exploration. Support from friends and significant others, such as romantic partners and mentors, did not significantly affect this relationship, indicating that these types of support may not be crucial in this context.

From Cradle to Cupid: Freud's Take on Romantic Partners as Parental Proxies

From Cradle to Cupid: Freud's Take on Romantic Partners as Parental Proxies

Empathic accuracy of romantic partner negative affect is influenced by borderline personality symptoms.

The present study sought to examine the relation between borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms and empathic accuracy while improving on prior methodologies by using daily affect assessment in romantic partners. BPD symptoms were assessed in both members of 81 community couples who also reported on their own and their partner's negative and positive affect daily for 3 weeks. Data were analyzed using the Truth and Bias Model of Judgment, which allows the source of empathic accuracy to be parsed into partner affect (truth) and own affect (bias). Results provided evidence that individuals with higher BPD symptoms exhibited increased empathic accuracy for a partner's negative affect, particularly when partners also had higher BPD symptoms. The source of this accuracy stemmed more from bias forces than truth forces, indicating that participants' own affective states lead to more accurate judgments of partner affective state. The results suggest that this bias reduced the general tendency among participants to underestimate partner negative affect, thus leading to higher empathic accuracy. Overall, our results extend and provide support for previous research indicating that BPD symptoms are associated with heightened, not diminished, empathic accuracy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Activating Family Safety Nets: Understanding Undergraduates’ Pandemic Housing Transitions

Safety nets are typically invisible until tested, and the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to observe how undergraduates responded to the common challenge of campus closures. Using survey data from two public universities (N = 750), we investigated the factors associated with students’ reports of moving to a parent’s home as a result of the pandemic. Our findings indicate that students’ material needs stemming from loss of housing (if on campus) or employment (if off campus) significantly affected but did not fully explain their housing decisions. Beyond these factors, older students and those living with a romantic partner, sibling, or extended family member were less likely to move in with a parent. These findings build on research documenting class-based differences by demonstrating the importance of life stage and other social ties. Moreover, they highlight how parent-child relationships evolve during the transition to adulthood, influencing decisions to seek support in times of crisis.

Impact of life-threatening military incidents during deployments abroad on the relationships between military personnel and their families.

The influence of deployments on family relationships has hardly been investigated. Following a recently proposed new research strategy, military personnel with and without deployment-related life-threatening military incidents during deployment were compared. The hypothesis was that partner and family relationships of military personnel who experienced such an event would deteriorate more. This study included N = 255 military personnel who had a romantic partner (n = 78 of them had children) when deployed to Afghanistan. Of these, n = 68 military personnel experienced a deployment-related critical event during the deployment, n = 187 did not. Partnership quality was assessed using a semi-structured pre- and post-deployment interview. The partner relationships of military personnel who experienced a deployment-related life-threatening military incident during deployment broke up significantly more often. The partner relationships of all military personnel deteriorated significantly, with greater deterioration after deployment in the group who faced such incidents. These results were independent of age, rank or number of previous deployments. In addition, there was a significant deterioration in the relationships between all military personnel and their children with greater deterioration after deployment in the group who faced such incidents. Life-threatening military incidents during a deployment abroad appear to have a considerable influence on the quality and stability of the partner and family relationships of military personnel. These findings can be used to inform the development of specific pre- and post-deployment measures and training.

Psychosocial Factors and Dating Violence: A Review of the Literature

Dating violence is a major source of concern among the general population. Previous literature reviews have studied many other risk factors and dyadic implications of dating violence, but there has been very little research done in diverse elements of psychosocial factors linked to dating violence. The articles related to the term’s psychosocial factors (personality traits, attachment style and loneliness) and we looked for phrases linked to dating violence (aggression in romantic partnerships, violence in intimate relationships). The studies for this literature review must be from original studies with any gender sampling and should be written in English. This review included 27 papers that met the criteria for inclusion. The findings of this literature analysis revealed inconsistent results regarding the association between psychosocial factors and violent behaviour in romantic relationships, with some studies unable to detect such links. These findings are explored in terms of current gaps in the literature as well as suggested future research areas. The implication of this study can help in understanding the psychosocial factors that form the basis of relational aggression in romantic relationships and as a proactive step to avoid from being a victim of relational aggression.

Love Is in the AI of the BeholderArtificial Intelligence and Characters of Love

This article examines AI in its capacity to become a companion in a love relationship, whether romantic or otherwise. It shows how AI has moved from the sphere of science fiction to become a reality in everyday life, which makes our interactions with it much more personal, and our perception of it as something human-like, if not yet human. This rightly opens discussions regarding AI behaviour and human coexistence with it. The article argues that since it is difficult, if not impossible, to exactly know how an AI thinks and as we can only discern it by its results and effects, a way to anticipate its outcome is to look at the possibilities of attachment its input entails. AI input is based on mediated human experiences found in the web—aspects of love included. As such, seeing what type of love such data can result in is a valid way of foreseeing what characteristics AI will exhibit when perceived as a love agent. The article further argues that a safe and appropriate space to explore that contingency are digital games. Using an example involving Nier: Automata, it contends that archival datasets alone, full of toxic and problematic examples of love and attachment, will give rise to equally disturbing AI-generated love characters. Instead, it proposes that games can offer a different solution by affording opportunities for cohabitation of human agents and AI, in which the AI will learn about love via playful instances of care, attachment, and attuning.

Care that transcends legal citizenship: Teachers advocating for undocumented migrant children

Theoretically framed by caring scholarship in education, the current study aims to provide rich and detailed portraits of teachers in South Korea who serve a significant number of migrant and undocumented children. The findings of the study illustrate the ways teachers endeavor to create “spaces of belonging that supersede legal citizenship” (Gonzales et al., 2013, p. 17) in a school for the undocumented migrant children. Teachers attended to the everyday realities of undocumented migrant children and the material, physical, and emotional challenges caused by restrictive immigration policies and their precarious legal status. Teachers further provided undocumented migrant children with a variety of resources, support, and care and cultivated reciprocal and loving relationships with them. The findings of the study offer insights into the critical and pivotal roles of teachers in supporting and empowering undocumented migrant children amidst exclusive and xenophobic immigration regimes. The study also offers implications for educators, researchers and policymakers worldwide to promote more caring, resilient, and structurally inclusive environments for undocumented students.

Женские и мужские образы в рассказах Н.А. Крашенинникова

The paper examines a collection of short stories by the Russian writer Nikolai Alexandrovich Krasheninnikov (1878–1941) Shadows of Love, which was published in 1915. According to critics, in his stories Krasheninnikov draws the “dreary path” of heroes who come to life at the moment of meeting with deceptive illusions. The collection’s author builds a whole system of male and female perception of relationships, using a fairly simple formula, characteristic of modernist works in which the hero or heroine is tested by betrayal or jealousy. According to Krasheninnikov, both a woman and a man who find themselves in a situation of adultery exist in an active-passive Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur. 2024. Vol. 71 Philological sciences 167 paradigm of dependence on invented relationships (both the traitor and the one who is being cheated, and active principle can awaken in a woman, and passive becomes a companion of a man, depending on the chosen role. It is noteworthy that for a woman in Krasheninnikov’s stories, adultery is seen, first of all, as one of the manifestations of female rebellion in a patriarchal society, even if marital relations are not abusive for a woman. Opened betrayal or suspicion of it destroys masculine perception of the world, no matter how it was created, through a priori unequal marriage or loving relationships. The motif of adultery yields to the theme of a man’s search for illusory love, both in the opening and closing story of the cycle, which indicates the desire of author to both find one’s way to the essence of intersexual relations and catch the elusive “mood of love” with one stroke, which is typical for a short story genre (collection dedicated to A.P. Chekhov). The Poetics of the stories is built not so much on the antithesis of the manifestation of feminine and masculine principles, but on a preliminary attempt to reveal the psychology of sex, continued by the author in the novels of the 1910–1920s.