Researchers have proposed different theories to explain the nature of love.
You’ll learn how the scale shows the difference between liking and loving.
At first, Rubin came up with about 80 questions to assess the attitudes a person holds about others.
Riou / Digital Vision / Getty Images
The questions were sorted according to whether they reflected feelings of liking or loving.
The two sets of questions were administered to 198 undergraduate students.
If you are interested in taking the original test designed by Rubin, it is availablehere.
Rubin identified several characteristics that distinguished degrees of romantic love.
Other Theories of Love
Other researchers introduced other theories related to the concept of love.
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Lovesuggests that romantic love is composed of passion and intimacy.
These styles come from JohnBowlbys attachment theoryand include anxious/ambivalent, avoidant, or secure attachments.
The kind of attachment style adults have influences how they love.
PsychologistHarry Harlowalso believed that our early attachments to caregivers influenced our later relationships.
Hisexperiments with monkeysemphasized the importance of close, safe, and loving contact between caregivers and offspring.
2018;9:1115. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01115
Rubin Z.Measurement of romantic love.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
1970;16(2):265-273. doi:10.1037/h0029841
Sternberg RJ.A triangular theory of love.Psychol Rev.
1987;52(3):511-524. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.3.511
Harlow HF.The nature of love.American Psychologist.
1958;13(12):673-685. doi:10.1037/h0047884
