Sex and Relationship Differences on the Short Love Attitude Scale: Insights from the Hungarian Adaptation

Abstract

Love styles are attitudes towards romantic relationships that are related to sexual motivation, sociosexuality, mate value, and relationship status. In the present study, the Short Love Attitude Scale (LAS-SF) was adapted to Hungarian, and the original factor structure was replicated with a Hungarian sample of 800 participants (439 females, mean age = 38.6 years). The results show that the Hungarian LAS-SF is a reliable and valid measure, which enables cross-cultural comparisons. Differences in love styles were revealed across sexes and relationship statuses. All men except singles scored relatively high on Eros, while the highest Eros scores among women were obtained for those in a committed relationship. Women and men preferred the same strategy (Ludus) to achieve short-term relationship goals.

Why Hungarians Have Sex (YSEX?-HSF)

“…From an evolutionary point of view, this means that gender similarities in sexual motivation are underpinned by aspirations that have sex-specific origins and functions. Thus, the function of romantic or erotic love may be the same for each gender (e.g., strengthening the emotional attachment of a relationship and a sense of belonging), but it is worth clarifying that women and men are triggered by other factors (e.g., Conroy-Beam et al, 2019;Meskó et al, 2021;Schmitt, 2014;Walter et al, 2020). For example, women are more likely to experience love and attraction to dominant high-status men, while men are more likely to feel love and attraction toward physically attractive women (Fletcher et al, 2004).…”

Why Hungarians Have Sex: Development and Validation of a Brief 15-Item Instrument (YSEX?-15H)

“…These results partially replicate previous empirical findings on sexual motivation (e.g., Armstrong & Reissing, 2015 ; Hill & Preston, 1996 ; Whalen, 1966 ). Men more than women tend to prefer self-centered, unemotional reasons for their sexual encounters (e.g., Gray et al, 2019 ; Meskó et al, 2021 , 2022 ; Meston & Buss, 2007 ), whereas women tend to prefer emotional, relationship-oriented sexual reasons that presumably enhance the intimate bond (e.g., Denney et al, 1984 ; Leigh, 1989 ; Meskó et al, 2021 , 2022 ; Meston & Buss, 2007 ; Wyverkens et al, 2018 ). These gender differences in sexual motivation support the notion that the divergent patterns of desire for sexual intercourse is part of the different mating psychology of men and women (e.g., Conroy-Beam et al, 2019 ; Crosby et al, 2021 ; Walter et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The dataset was divided into two samples: a larger one for the psychometric assessment of the YSEX?-15H and a smaller one for external validation. Thus, these two samples comprised a total of eight subsamples, all of which were involved in previous studies (Birkás et al, 2020 ; Láng et al, 2021 ; Meskó et al, 2021 ), although some of the datasets have not been reported in detail before. The samples utilized for validations (external validation #1 with SSFS, ECR-S, ASQ-H = Sample 1; external validation #2 with SOI-R, BFI-S = Sample 7) were subsamples of the overall dataset (Total Study Sample).…”

“…Therefore, developing short and multidimensional questionnaires with high psychometrical quality is beneficial for both researchers and participants (Jonason & Webster, 2010 ). Accordingly, since previous studies employing the YSEX?-HSF confined their focus to the three summary scales reflecting on the three overarching sexual motives found among Hungarians (e.g., Birkás et al, 2020 ; Láng et al, 2021 ; Meskó et al, 2021 ), we aimed to develop a brief scale for assessing these three broad motives. Including a reliable and validated reduced-item version of YSEX?…”

Why are depression symptoms scores greater in people experiencing romantic love?

“…The participants in Bajoghli et al's (2014) and Brand et al's (2015) studies were almost exclusively in a romantic relationship. Females may experience early-stage romantic love more intensely than males (Cannas Aghedu, Veneziani, Manari, Feybesse, & Bisiacchi, 2018;Meskó, Zsidó, Láng, & Karádi, 2021). Reciprocated romantic love tends to be more intense than unrequited romantic love (such as when an individual is not in a romantic relationship with their loved one (Bringle, Winnick, & Rydell, 2013).…”