Title

Passionate Love And Anxiety - A Cross-Generational Study

Authors

Authors

A. Y. Wang;H. T. Nguyen

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Soc. Psychol.

Keywords

TRIANGULAR THEORY; Psychology, Social

Abstract

This study was designed to assess whether the experience of passionate love would change as a consequence of development throughout adulthood and whether highly anxious people would be especially motivated to seek passionate love relationships. The Passionate Love Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to a cross-generational sample (total N = 255) of adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and elderly in the United States. Status of past and present relationships was also determined. Contrary to expectations, no age-related differences were found for overall PLS scores. Moreover, the anticipated correlation between anxiety and passionate love was found only in the adolescent sample. A regression analysis revealed that for all age groups, whether or not a person was currently experiencing a passionate love relationship was the best predictor of scores on the PLS. These findings suggest a reconceptualization of passionate love as a life-span construct, rather than as a phenomenon largely confined to the period of adolescence.

Journal Title

Journal of Social Psychology

Volume

135

Issue/Number

4

Publication Date

1-1-1995

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

459

Last Page

470

WOS Identifier

WOS:A1995RV84800005

ISSN

0022-4545

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