15.10.2024.
Love, a fundamental and deeply personal emotion, is often difficult to capture in scientific terms. However, researchers continue to explore how we experience love, its complexities, and how it evolves over time. A new study, led by Saurabh Bhargava from Carnegie Mellon University and published in Psychological Science, offers fresh insights into the nuances of love, including its gender differences and how it fluctuates within long-term relationships.
With a sample of nearly 4,000 volunteers, this research sheds light on the intricate patterns of how love is felt and expressed, providing a clearer understanding of its fragility.
The study employed two experiments to explore these dynamics. One utilized an electronic diary approach, where volunteers recorded their emotions multiple times a day over a 10-day period. The second was an online questionnaire examining feelings of love and other emotions like worry or anger. Both experiments aimed to measure not just the presence of love, but also its intensity and context—whether it was felt toward a romantic partner, a child, a family member, or even an object or place.
Here are eight intriguing insights from the study that offer a deeper understanding of love’s nature:
- Partner love is most common: Among all types of love, feelings toward a romantic partner were the most frequent, reported by 53.3% of participants. This was followed by love for children and other family members.
- Women experience love more often than men: In the first experiment, women reported feeling love 4% of the time, compared to men, who reported feeling love only 2.3% of the time.
- Men are more likely to be with their romantic partner when feeling love: While men report less love overall, they are 28% more likely to feel love in the presence of their partner than women, though they are significantly less likely to feel love around children or friends.
- Long-term marriages experience less romantic love: People married for more than three years reported significantly less romantic love (36.7% less) compared to those married for shorter periods.
- Romantic love declines faster in women: The decline in romantic love is more pronounced in women, with a 55.2% reduction over time compared to just 9.2% for men.
- Passion fades more in women after marriage: Married women showed a 55.3% drop in passion, compared to 22.7% in men, indicating that passion diminishes more dramatically for women.
- Love increases after time apart: The old saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” holds true, with love increasing after eight hours or more of separation, especially in women (37% increase).
- Feeling love improves mood: Both men and women who experience love report being in better moods and generally happier.
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