The study was done to examine sex differences in the importance attributed to romantic acts by adolescents. On a 15-item Romantic Acts questionnaire of Neto participants rated the importance of each act. Four factors of Offerings, Physical Intimacy, Altruistic Behavior, and Sexual Behavior were found. The 108 girls judged physical intimacy as more important than the 79 boys.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HazanC.ShaverP. (1987) Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511–524.
2.
HendrickC.HendrickS. (1986) A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 392–402.
3.
HongS-M.EvansM.HallT.SheehanP. (1994) Making love: Australian adults ratings of its importance as a romantic act in a relationship. Psychological Reports, 75, 47–50.
4.
HongS-M.FaeddaS. (1994) Ranking of romantic acts by an Australian sample. Psychological Reports, 74, 471–474.
5.
NetoF. (1993) Love styles and self-representations. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 795–803.
6.
NetoF. (1994) Love styles among Portuguese students. Journal of Psychology, 128, 613–616.
7.
NetoF. (1997) Romantic acts in Portugal. Psychological Reports, 81, 147–151.
8.
NetoF.BarrosJ. (1998) Ranking of romantic acts among Cape Verdean and Portuguese students. Psychological Reports, 83, 1315–1318.
9.
NetoF.MulletE.BarrosJ. (submitted) Cross-cultural variations in the importance attributed to romantic acts in a relationship.
10.
ReganP. C. (1998) Of lust and love: Beliefs about the role of sexual desire in romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 5, 139–157.
11.
RubinZ. (1970) Measurement of romantic love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 265–273.
12.
SternbergR. (1986) A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93, 119–135.
13.
TolstedtB. E.StokesJ. P. (1983) Relation of verbal, affective, and physical intimacy to marital satisfaction. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 30, 573–580.
14.
TuckerR. K.MarvinM. G.VivianB. (1991) What constitutes a romantic act? An empirical study. Psychological Reports, 69, 651–654.
15.
TuckerR. K.VivianB.MarvinM. G. (1992) Operationalizing the romance construct in an adult sample. Psychological Reports, 71, 115–120.