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

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