Physical attractiveness has been found to be the most important element in
initial attraction, although standards of attractiveness are culturally conditioned
and change over time. Other important factors in attraction are personality
and social factors and unconscious factors that stem from previous conditioning.
Love is not a single concept; its many dimensions include romantic love, erotic
love, dependent love, friendship love, and altruistic love. Various components
of love have been identified, such as intimacy, passion, commitment, caring,
and friendship. Men and women experience similarities and differences in their
love attitudes over time. Different approaches to defining love are presented.
People tend to look for partners with a similar love style to their own. Six
prototypes of love styles are eros, mania, ludus, pragma, storge, and agape. |
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education