An attitudinal measure of Lee's typology of love was administered to a sample of 242 youths between 15 and 21 years. Variation in subjects' agreement with the six love types was analyzed as a function of sex, age, and resolution of Eriksorfs identity and intimacy crises. Male, and to a lesser degree, female preferences for love types corresponded with sex-role norms but there were no age effects. This suggested that the differences between the sexes occur before middle adolescence. Differences as a function of identity and intimacy were seen to reflect the construct validity of the measures rather than meaningful changes. The explanatory power of the identity and intimacy constructs, while superior to age as a developmental index, was not substantial.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Blos, P.
(1962). On adolescence: A psychoanalytic interpretation. New York: Free Press.
2.
Broderick, C. B.
(1966). Socio-sexual development in a suburban community. Journal of Sex Research, 12, 1-24.
3.
Dion, K. L.
& Dion, K. K. (1973). Correlates of romantic love. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41, 51-56.
4.
Elkind, D.
(1970). Children and adolescents: Interpretive essays on Jean Piaget. New York: Oxford University Press.
5.
Erikson, E. H.
(1959). Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 1, 1-71.
6.
Erikson, E. H.
(1963). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
7.
Farber, B. A.
(1980). Adolescence. In K. S. Pope (Ed.) On love and loving. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
8.
Fengler, A. P.
(1974). Romantic love in courtship: Divergent paths of male and female students. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 5, 134-139.
9.
Ferguson, G. A.
(1976). Statistical analysis in psychology and education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
10.
Fromm, E.
(1975). The art of loving. London: Allen & Unwin.
11.
Grotevant, H. D.
, Thorbecke, W. & Meyer, M. L. (1982). An extension of Marcia's identity status interview into the interpersonal domain. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 33-47.
12.
Hatkoff, T (1978). Cultural and demographic differences in persons' cognitive referents of love. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California.
13.
Hodgson, J. W.
and Fischer, J. L. (1979). Sex differences in identity and intimacy development in college youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 8, 37-50.
14.
Kacerguis, M. A.
& Adams, G. R. (1980). Erikson stage resolution: The relationship between identity and intimacy. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 117-126.
15.
Kanin, E. J.
, Davidson, K. R. & Scheck, S. R. (1970). A research note on male/female differentials in the experience of heterosexual love. Journal of Sex Research, 6, 64-72.
16.
Kephart, W.
(1967). Some correlates of romantic love. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 29, 470-479.
17.
Knox, Jr., D.
(1970). Conceptions of love at three developmental levels. Family Coordinator, 19,151-156.
18.
Lasswell, T E.
& Lasswell, M. E. (1976). I love you but I'm not in love with you. Journal of Marriage and Family Counseling, 2, 211-224.
19.
Lasswell, M. E.
& Lobsenz, N. M. (1980). Styles of loving. New York: Ballantine Books.
20.
Lee, J. A.
(1973). Colours of Love. Toronto: New Press.
21.
Lee, J. A.
(1977). A typology of styles of lovingPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3, 173-182.
22.
Loudin, J.
(1980). The hoax of romance. New York: Prentice-Hall.
23.
Matteson, D. R.
(1975). Adolescence today: Sex roles and the search for identity. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
24.
Orlofsky, J. L.
(1978). The relationship between intimacy status and antecedent personality components. Adoescence, 13, 419-441.
25.
Orlofsky, J. L.
, Marcia, J. E. & Lesser, I. M. (1973). Ego identity status and the intimacy versus isolation crisis of young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27, 211-219.
26.
Rosenthal, D. A.
, Gurney, R. M. & Moore, S. M. (1981). From trust to intimacy: A new inventory for examining Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 10, 525-537.
27.
Rosenthal, D. A.
, Moore, S. M. & Taylor, M. J. (1983). Ethnicity and adjustment: A study of the self-image of Anglo-, Greek-, and Italian-Australian adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 117-135.
28.
Rubin, Z.
(1970). Measurement of romantic love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 265-273.
29.
Sandor, D. (1982). Love: An investigation of youths' attitudes within an Eriksonian framework. Unpublished B. A. thesis, University of Melbourne.
30.
Schenkel, S.
& Marcia, J. (1972). Attitudes toward premarital intercourse in determining ego identity status in college women. Journal of Personality, 3, 472-482.
31.
Sullivan, H. S.
(1953). Conceptions of modern psychiatry (2nd edn.). New York: Norton.
32.
Waterman, C. K.
& Nevid, J. S. (1977). Sex differences in resolution of the identity crisis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 6, 337-342.
