Modernization, collectivism, and gender equality predict love experiences in 45 countries

Abstract

Recent cross-cultural and neuro-hormonal investigations have suggested that love is a near universal phenomenon that has a biological background. Therefore, the remaining important question is not whether love exists worldwide but which cultural, social, or environmental factors influence experiences and expressions of love. In the present study, we explored whether countries’ modernization indexes are related to love experiences measured by three subscales (passion, intimacy, commitment) of the Triangular Love Scale. Analyzing data from 9474 individuals from 45 countries, we tested for relationships with country-level predictors, namely, modernization proxies (i.e., Human Development Index, World Modernization Index, Gender Inequality Index), collectivism, and average annual temperatures. We found that mean levels of love (especially intimacy) were higher in countries with higher modernization proxies, collectivism, and average annual temperatures. In conclusion, our results grant some support to the hypothesis that modernization processes might influence love experiences.

Differences in response-scale usage are ubiquitous in cross-country comparisons and a potential driver of elusive relationships

“…When this assumption is violated, observed differences in mean scores do not only reflect differences in the constructs of interest but also systematic differences in response option usage—a phenomenon referred to as response styles 1 . We believe that the relationship between country-level self-reported love experiences and modernization reported by Sorokowski et al 2 poses an instructive cautionary tale of how the unaccounted presence of cross-country differences in response styles may lead to potentially spurious and artifactual conclusions. To support this claim, we first briefly review the phenomenon of response styles and its implications and discuss state-of-the-art psychometric approaches for accommodating response style differences.…”

“…To support this claim, we first briefly review the phenomenon of response styles and its implications and discuss state-of-the-art psychometric approaches for accommodating response style differences. Employing these approaches, we re-analyze the data from Sorokowski et al 2 and show that once response styles are accounted for, conclusions on a substantial relationship between country-level love experiences and modernization are no longer supported. We conclude with recommendations for cross-country comparisons using Likert-type scales.…”

Reply to: Differences in response-scale usage are ubiquitous in cross-country comparisons and a potential driver of elusive relationships

“…Additionally, we observed intriguing but small variations in love experiences across countries. Our key findings suggest that several cultural factors, such as countries’ modernization and individualism levels, as well as environmental factors, such as average annual temperatures might relate to romantic love experiences 3 . Ulitzsch et al 4 commented that one of our results concerning a quadratic relationship between romantic love and countries’ Human Development Index (HDI) might result from ‘unaccounted presence of cross-country differences in response styles.’ We agree that the presence of response styles can introduce biases that stem not from genuine differences in the underlying construct but solely from differences in scale usage 5 .…”

Conservatism Negatively Predicts Creativity: A Study Across 28 Countries

“…After receiving instructions, participants individually and independently completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The survey included demographic questions, measures of interest, and other measures collected for purposes of other studies (see for example Conroy-Beam et al, 2019a, 2019bKowal et al, 2020;Sorokowska et al, 2021Sorokowska et al, , 2023Sorokowski et al, 2021Sorokowski et al, , 2023Walter et al, 2020Walter et al, , 2021. The original version of the questionnaire was in English, but in all non-English-speaking countries, authors translated the measures into participants' native languages by researchers fluent in both languages using the back-translation procedure (Brislin, 1970).…”

“…The final sample consisted of 28 countries: 6,865 adult participants (3,100 males, 3,765 females) with a mean age of 28.25 years (SD = 10.92). The study was a part of a broader research project (see: Conroy-Beam et al, 2019a, 2019bSorokowska et al, 2021Sorokowska et al, , 2023Sorokowski et al, 2021Sorokowski et al, , 2023Kowal et al, 2020;Walter et al, 2020Walter et al, , 2021 but in this article, we analyzed only data from countries where participants completed measures that were of interest to our stated aims. We expected to collect data from at least 50 participants per collaborator in each country.…”