Love styles and self-representations

Abstract

This study focused on relationships between love styles and self-representations. The examination of these relationships was motivated by a review of Lee's (1973; The colors of love: An exploration of the ways of loving. Toronto: New Press) descriptions of the six different loving styles which suggests an overlap with a variety of personality measures. The Love Attitudes Scale (LAS), the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS), the Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS) and a brief measure of self-esteem were administered to 185 subjects. The factor structures obtained in the present study were compared with those obtained in previous studies and revealed an almost exact correspondence for the LAS and the SCS and a close correspondence for the SMS. In general the predictions made between love styles and self-representations were confirmed. Two aspects of the results are discussed: the factor structures of the questionnaires and the importance of the results for theorizing about love styles.