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Love as a Commitment Device : Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Study across 90 Countries
Marta Kowal1, Adam Bode2, Karolina Koszałkowska3
1IDN Being Human Lab - Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland. marta7kowal@gmail.com.
Human Nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)
|December 26, 2024
Summary
Romantic love acts as a universal commitment device, crucial for long-term relationships. This study found that individuals and societies valuing love highly often face greater relationship termination risks, underscoring its global importance.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Sociology
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
Background:
- Love is a ubiquitous human emotion with various proposed evolutionary functions.
- One theory posits romantic love evolved as a commitment device to enhance reproductive success.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that romantic love functions as a commitment device.
- To examine the cross-cultural universality and socioeconomic correlates of valuing romantic love.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large-scale dataset of 86,310 individual responses from 90 countries.
- Analyzed the relationship between socioeconomic factors, gender, parental status, Human Development Index (HDI), and the importance placed on romantic love.
Main Results:
- Individuals with higher potential losses from relationship termination (lower socioeconomic status, more children, women) valued romantic love more.
- Higher national Human Development Index (HDI) correlated with greater importance placed on romantic love.
- A significant majority worldwide would not commit to a long-term relationship without love.
Conclusions:
- Romantic love appears to function as a universal commitment device, particularly for those with more to lose.
- Societal modernization may influence the perceived importance of romantic love.
- Love is a fundamental prerequisite for long-term relationship commitment globally.
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