Passionate Love And Anxiety - A Cross-Generational Study

    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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