Romantic Love Flashcards
What are the cross-cultural similarities in the experience of passion
Romantic lovers believe in the “myth of passion” and equate love with strong passion. Lovers assume that intense passionate feelings should last forever, once fades think do not love partner anymore.
“My heart is on fire” has parallels
E.g., Ich brenne vor Liebe
Universality due to physiological basis of passion
What are the cross-cultural differences in the experience of passion?
Love-as-fire (english metaphor express move passionately, openly, and directly comparing to brilliant, mighty, powerful experience like sun) vs. love-as-silk (chinese talk about love indirectly and tactfully compare love with moon since moon is indirect and gentle as love)
Western (right to express emotions as they are) vs. Eastern norms (encouraged to moderate emotion)
gender-specific norms chinese masc moderate emotions vs american fem norm encourage woment to experience emotions naturally
High(H) vs. Low(L) arousal emotions
West: H> L; East L>H
What is the key feature about romantic experience of love?
Romantic love is a special type of love, which is characterized by a certain set of romantic beliefs. Romantic love attitudes are frequently opposed to pragmatic beliefs. Idealization of lover’s unique qualities and considering a relationship with him/her as exceptionally perfect.
Early studies in Western contexts: gender & age-based diffs in romantic beliefs
Studies from 1960-1980s
The results showed that, despite the ideals inspiried by romantic novels and movies, many amer didn’t share the cultural stereotypes of romantic love. Women believed in love more, still expressing pragmatic orientation. Younger part were more romantic than older ones
Studies of romantic belief in Africa and West Indies
Results lower romantic idealism among participants in several African countries, compared to amer and Brits. African concept balanced of trad indig concept and western ideals of romantic love.
Women from Caribbean islands (west indies) believed in romantic love more than men and young part than older ones.
Greater assimilation in the West Indies; both groups had low concern with con jugal intimacy; “double standards” of sexual behaviour important factor in Caribbean and other LA cult. Men’s infidelity was widespread practice, while women’s infidelity was unacceptable.
Studies of Romantic Attitudes across countries:
Romantic attitudes were higher in European contexts than in Asian contexts
Joy and Happiness of Love
Folk views: love leads to happiness
Emotional associations with love can vary across cultures (e.g., happy (amer + italians) vs. sad (chinese))
Some cross-cultural similarities as well E.g., regarding the power of love.
The quality of love makes a difference
Predictors: being in a relationship happier and more satisfied with life, relationship quality influence the experience of individual happiness and well being
Similarities: passionate love
strongest predictor cross culturally of positive emotions while companionate love strongest predictor of life satisfaction. no cult diff
Maladaptive experiences of love : obsession in love
Obsession (extreme passion accompanied by intrusive thoughts dominating a lover’s mind by the experience of overwelming desire to posses an object of love) seen cross-culturally
Labels: limerence; mania
maladaptive experience of love: suffering in love
Suffering is oft-seen as a part of love
E.g., North Amer (helpless, sad, hurt-hurts, lost, frustrate, vulnerable, jealous, and angry) Turkey (pleasant but painful), Russia (suffering is love) , Catholic Latin American(suffering, self-abnegation, self-sacrifice)
people perceive love as an obstacle, a problem in itself.
Maladaptive experiences of love: Lovesickness
Hist psych disorder with diagnoses and treatment. Modern medicine lovesickness may still be present in form of somatoform disorder, bipolar disorder, erotomania, or addiction.
Symptoms: rapid breathiing, ralpitations, agitations, fever, loss of appetite, headach, frenzy, and intrsuive thinking, despair, and depression.
Cultures vary in lovesickness symptoms
E.g., South Indian Tamil (mayakkam) describe an individual who falls headover-heels in desperate and wild love as suffering from mayakkam-dizziness, intoxication, confusion, and delusion
italy passionate love resemble OCD and neuroticism. Biochem similar for these
