Passionate and Companionate Love in Courting and Young Married Couples

Sociological and social psychological discourse on love posits the existence of two distinct love types: passionate and companionate love. Little research, however, has been conducted to document the presumed theoretical differences between these two varieties of love. The primary purpose of this study was to examine empirically the extent to which passionate and companionate love differ on three major dimensions. Passionate love, to a greater degree than companionate love, was hypothesized (1) to be sexualized, (2) to be associated with intense positive and negative emotional experiences, and (3) to decline with the passage of time. These hypotheses were tested with data collected from a sample of 197 couples representing different stages of the courtship process and transition to marriage. Support was found for the first and third hypotheses; however, little support was found for the second. The degree to which passionate and companionate love were related to satisfaction and commitment were also examined. Passionate and companionate love were associated with satisfaction and commitment, although companionate love was more highly associated than passionate love with satisfaction.