Love Styles (Lasswell & Lasswell, 1976)

• Populations: Adolescents
• Age ranges: 14-18
• Languages: English
• Countries: United States

Items

Subscales

• Agape, 6 Items
• Pragma, 6 Items
• Storge, 6 Items
• Eros, 6 Items
• Mania, 6 Items
• Ludus, 6 Items

Items by Subscale

Agape

• I try to always help her through difficult times. 
• I would rather suffer myself than let my girlfriend suffer. 
• I can’t be happy unless I put her happiness above my own. 
• I usually sacrifice my own wishes to let her get her own. 
• Whatever I own is hers to use as she chooses. 
• I would put up with a lot for her sake. 

Pragma

• I consider what a person is going to become in life before I commit myself to her. 
• It is best to love someone with a similar background to mine. 
• A main consideration in choosing a girlfriend is how she fits into my family. 
• An important factor in choosing a girlfriend is how she will be as a mother. 
• Before getting very involved with someone, I try to figure out what our children would be like, if we were to have any. 
• In choosing a partner, I consider how she will for in my future plans. 

Storge

• It is hard to say exactly when we went from being friends to being romantically involved. 
• Love first requires caring for a while. 
• I expect to always be friends with the people I date. 
• The best kind of love grows out of a long friendship. 
• My most satisfying dating relationships grew from good friendships. 
• Love is a deep friendship, not a mysterious, passionate emotion. 

Eros

• We were attracted to each other immediately when we first met. 
• We have the right physical “chemistry” between us. 
• We have an intense romantic relationship. 
• I feel that we were meant for each other. 
• We became involved rather quickly. 
• She/he fits my ideal standards of physical good looks. 

Mania

• If my girlfriend ignores me for a while, I sometimes do stupid things to get her attention back. 
• I can’t relax if I suspect she is with another guy. 
• When I am in love, I have trouble concentrating on anything else. 
• When she doesn’t pay attention to me, I feel sick all over. 
• Sometimes I get so excited about being in love that I can’t sleep. 
• When my love affairs break up, I really get depressed. 

Ludus

• I try to keep her uncertain about my commitment to her. 
• I think that what she does not know about me will not hurt her. 
• I have sometimes had to keep two of my girlfriends from finding out about each other. 
• I can get over love affairs pretty easily and quickly. 
• When my girlfriend becomes too dependent on me, I want to back off a little. 
• I enjoy playing the “game of love” with a number of different girls. 

Scoring

Not Reported

Citations

Lasswell, T. E., & Lasswell, M. E. (1976). I love you but I’m not in love with you. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2(3), 211-224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1976.tb00413.x

LEVESQUE, R. J. R. (1993). The romantic experience of adolescents in satisfying love relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 22(3), 219-251. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537790