Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Language
English
Publication Date
1-14-2023
Journal
Scientific Reports
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-26663-4
PMID
36641519
PMCID
PMC9840424
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
January 2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Recent cross-cultural and neuro-hormonal investigations have suggested that love is a near universal phenomenon that has a biological background. Therefore, the remaining important question is not whether love exists worldwide but which cultural, social, or environmental factors influence experiences and expressions of love. In the present study, we explored whether countries' modernization indexes are related to love experiences measured by three subscales (passion, intimacy, commitment) of the Triangular Love Scale. Analyzing data from 9474 individuals from 45 countries, we tested for relationships with country-level predictors, namely, modernization proxies (i.e., Human Development Index, World Modernization Index, Gender Inequality Index), collectivism, and average annual temperatures. We found that mean levels of love (especially intimacy) were higher in countries with higher modernization proxies, collectivism, and average annual temperatures. In conclusion, our results grant some support to the hypothesis that modernization processes might influence love experiences.
Keywords
Humans, Gender Equity, Love, Sexual Partners, Sexual Behavior, Social Change, Psychology, Cultural evolution, Anthropology
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Sorokowski, Piotr; Kowal, Marta; Sternberg, Robert J; et al., "Modernization, Collectivism, and Gender Equality Predict Love Experiences In 45 Countries" (2023). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 2349.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthmed_docs/2349