Lovers’responses to open‐ended questions concerning the experience and communication of intimacy, passion, and commitment were content‐ and factor‐analyzed. These analyses resulted in six ways of experiencing intimacy (openness, sex, affection, supportiveness, togetherness, and quiet company); two ways of experiencing passion (romance and sexual intimacy); and five ways of experiencing commitment (supportiveness, expressions of love, fidelity, expressions of commitment, and consideration and devotion). These results suggest that love, intimacy, passion, and commitment are best conceived as related, overlapping gestalts in the subjective experiences of actual lovers.

This study argues that situations can be conceptualised according to actors' prototypes (Cantor & Mischel, 1979a, b) for obtaining goals. In addition, these goals are constructed from salient dimensions of perceptions found in previous literature on compliance-gaining. Fourteen goal types were selected and used in a study concerning perceptions of influence situations and expected use of influence approaches. Perceptions and influence strategies varied from one goal to another, and Locus of Control constructs (i.e. internal locus of control, powerlessness) were also significantly related to participants' reactions. Internals (vs. externals) claimed greater confidence when pursuing goals, reported greater persistence when pursuing goals, rated goals as easier to imagine, and reported greater willingness to enter into events to achieve the various goals. Internals were also more likely than externals to rely on rationality, referent power, and manipulation of positive feelings. Powerless actors, however, opted for weaker strategies (e.g. direct requests, compromise), more rudimentary strategies (coercive power), and more emotional-based strategies (manipulation of positive feelings, manipulation of negative feelings). 1975; Wish, Deutsch Rr Kaplan, 1976). 0261-927X/86/04/0249-2 1 50230/0 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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Whereas previous research into romantic love has focused upon the traits of love objects, beliefs about love and/or types of loving relationships, these two studies examine the subjective experience of love and the manners in which love is communicated. In Study I seventy-six respondents participated in face-to-face interviews. Responses were content and cluster analysed. Cluster analysis revealed six `ways of romantic love': Collaborative Love, Active Love, Secure Love, Intuitive Love, Committed Love and Traditional Romantic Love. In Study 11185 respondents completed a questionnaire version of the Study I interview. Respondents then employed the six love clusters in self-coding their responses, providing representational validity for the previous cluster analysis. Further, a confirming cluster analysis - using a subset of the Study II data - provided construct validity for four of the six love clusters. A fifth cluster split into two new clusters. These studies support two general conclusions. First, love may be experienced in a variety of different ways: in terms of relational constructs, physiological responses, behavioural actions and/or non-verbal perceptions. Second, there is a strong coherence in lovers' experience of love and in their reports of how love is communicated.