Page No: 91-97
Tiffany Zenhoihsang
Amity University
The study explores John Lee’s six love styles, namely, eros (passion-intimacy), ludus
(noncommittal-casual), storge (companionship), pragma (practical-logical), mania
(obsessive-dependent), and agape (selflessness-altruism) in correlation with self-esteem
by administering Hendrick et al. love attitudes scale (short-form) with the self-esteem
scale by Rosenberg on 150 ‘romantically involved’ Indian participants between the
ages 18 to 29 years. Pearson’s correlation revealed that males’ self-esteem scores did
not significantly correlate with the love styles, however, female self-esteem was
significantly positively correlated with eros, storge, and pragma, and negatively correlated
with agape. Additional analysis revealed gender differences in agape love with males
scoring higher than females (p=.01). Eros was the most prevalent type and ludus the
least scored in the population. Males endorsed more of ludus, storge, and agape than
females. The study highlights the nuances of culture and self-esteem in shaping
romantic relationships and the research implications in studying these effects.