Given the universal nature of love, many hypotheses have been proposed to explain its existence. One such hypothesis refers to love as a means of commitment, suggesting that romantic love evolved to promote commitment between partners and increase reproductive success. A new scientific paper published this month (of which I am a co-author) aimed to investigate this hypothesis using a large sample of 86,310 participants from 90 countries.
Source: John Taran/Pexel
Participants were asked the following questions: “Suppose you are not currently in a committed relationship. Imagine meeting someone who has all the qualities you desire, but with whom you are not in love. , how likely are you to form a partnership with this person?” The response scale ranged from 0 (I would never marry this person) to 100 (I would definitely marry this person). Participants were then asked to self-report their gender, socio-economic status, and number of children.
Additionally, the Human Development Index (HDI) was used as a composite statistic to measure and compare development levels between countries. The HDI combines a nation’s longevity (life expectancy at birth), education (average years of schooling completed at age 25 and children’s expected years of schooling), and income (gross national income). Therefore, it is often used as an indicator of a country’s level of modernization. per capita income).
If romantic love is widely recognized as a force that fosters commitment between long-term partners, we believe that individuals who are more likely to suffer greater losses from relationship termination, namely those of lower socio-economic status, We predicted that people with more children, and women – would be more likely to have high status, have fewer children, and place more emphasis on love than men. These predictions were supported by the data.
It was also observed that people in countries with a high (vs. low) Human Development Index value romantic love at higher levels, suggesting that modernization may influence how romantic love is valued. suggests. Furthermore, on average, participants around the world were reluctant to commit to long-term romantic relationships without love, highlighting the universal importance of romantic love.
In conclusion, the findings of this study highlight the role of romantic love as an important commitment mechanism and highlight both its universal importance and cultural diversity. The study highlights its growing importance among individuals facing socio-economic challenges, gender disparities, and family responsibilities, while also revealing interesting patterns across different national cultures. Masu.
The study, “Love as a Commitment Device: Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Study Across 90 Countries,” led by Marta Kowal and Piotr Sorokovsky, was published this month in the scientific journal Human Nature.