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Fulltext Love as a Commitment Device : Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Study across 90 Countries

Kowal M, Bode A, Koszałkowska K, Roberts SC, Gjoneska B, Frederick D, et al.

Hum Nat, 2024 Dec;35(4):430-450.
PMID: 39725786 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-024-09482-6

Given the ubiquitous nature of love, numerous theories have been proposed to explain its existence. One such theory refers to love as a commitment device, suggesting that romantic love evolved to foster commitment between partners and enhance their reproductive success. In the present study, we investigated this hypothesis using a large-scale sample of 86,310 individual responses collected across 90 countries. If romantic love is universally perceived as a force that fosters commitment between long-term partners, we expected that individuals likely to suffer greater losses from the termination of their relationships-including people of lower socioeconomic status, those with many children, and women-would place a higher value on romantic love compared to people with higher status, those with fewer children, and men. These predictions were supported. Additionally, we observed that individuals from countries with a higher (vs. lower) Human Development Index placed a greater level of importance on romantic love, suggesting that modernization might influence how romantic love is evaluated. On average, participants worldwide were unwilling to commit to a long-term romantic relationship without love, highlighting romantic love's universal importance.
Fulltext Validation of the Short Version (TLS-15) of the Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45) across 37 Languages

Kowal M, Sorokowski P, Dinić BM, Pisanski K, Gjoneska B, Frederick DA, et al.

Arch Sex Behav, 2024 Feb;53(2):839-857.
PMID: 37884798 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02702-7

Love is a phenomenon that occurs across the world and affects many aspects of human life, including the choice of, and process of bonding with, a romantic partner. Thus, developing a reliable and valid measure of love experiences is crucial. One of the most popular tools to quantify love is Sternberg's 45-item Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45), which measures three love components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. However, our literature review reveals that most studies (64%) use a broad variety of shortened versions of the TLS-45. Here, aiming to achieve scientific consensus and improve the reliability, comparability, and generalizability of results across studies, we developed a short version of the scale-the TLS-15-comprised of 15 items with 5-point, rather than 9-point, response scales. In Study 1 (N = 7,332), we re-analyzed secondary data from a large-scale multinational study that validated the original TLS-45 to establish whether the scale could be truncated. In Study 2 (N = 307), we provided evidence for the three-factor structure of the TLS-15 and its reliability. Study 3 (N = 413) confirmed convergent validity and test-retest stability of the TLS-15. Study 4 (N = 60,311) presented a large-scale validation across 37 linguistic versions of the TLS-15 on a cross-cultural sample spanning every continent of the globe. The overall results provide support for the reliability, validity, and cross-cultural invariance of the TLS-15, which can be used as a measure of love components-either separately or jointly as a three-factor measure.
Fulltext Correction to: Validation of the Short Version (TLS-15) of the Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45) Across 37 Languages

Kowal M, Sorokowski P, Dinić BM, Pisanski K, Gjoneska B, Frederick DA, et al.

Arch Sex Behav, 2024 Feb;53(2):859-861.
PMID: 38038856 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02751-y
Fulltext Contrasting Computational Models of Mate Preference Integration Across 45 Countries

Conroy-Beam D, Buss DM, Asao K, Sorokowska A, Sorokowski P, Aavik T, et al.

Sci Rep, 2019 11 15;9(1):16885.
PMID: 31729413 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52748-8

Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.
Fulltext Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios

Walter KV, Conroy-Beam D, Buss DM, Asao K, Sorokowska A, Sorokowski P, et al.

Proc Biol Sci, 2021 Jul 28;288(1955):20211115.
PMID: 34284630 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1115

A wide range of literature connects sex ratio and mating behaviours in non-human animals. However, research examining sex ratio and human mating is limited in scope. Prior work has examined the relationship between sex ratio and desire for short-term, uncommitted mating as well as outcomes such as marriage and divorce rates. Less empirical attention has been directed towards the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences, despite the importance of mate preferences in the human mating literature. To address this gap, we examined sex ratio's relationship to the variation in preferences for attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence and health in a long-term mate across 45 countries (n = 14 487). We predicted that mate preferences would vary according to relative power of choice on the mating market, with increased power derived from having relatively few competitors and numerous potential mates. We found that each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness and resources where the opposite sex was abundant, compared to where the opposite sex was scarce. This pattern dovetails with those found for mating strategies in humans and mate preferences across species, highlighting the importance of sex ratio for understanding variation in human mate preferences.
A preliminary study on the role of personal history of infectious and parasitic diseases on self-reported health across countries

Pfuhl G, Prazeres F, Kowal M, Aavik T, Abad-Villaverde B, Afhami R, et al.

Public Health, 2025 Mar 23;242:220-227.
PMID: 40127606 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2025.02.030

OBJECTIVES: Infectious diseases are often associated with decline in quality of life. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between personal history of communicable, i.e., infectious and parasitic diseases and self-rated health.
STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a large dataset multi-country observational study.
METHODS: We used a four-pronged analysis approach to investigate whether personal history of infectious and parasitic diseases is related to self-reported health, measured with a single item.
RESULTS: Three of the four analyses found a small positive effect on self-reported health among those reporting a history of pathogen exposure. The meta-analysis found no support but large heterogeneity that was not reduced by two classifications of countries.
CONCLUSION: Personal history of infectious and parasitic diseases does not reduce self-reported health across a global sample.