Explorations of Psychology through Art: Love Styles

Paintings are used to explore issues in the psychology of love. Examples of paintings are suggested, for presentation in slide form, that illustrates the different colors of love: Eros (passionate love), Ludus (game-playing love), Storge (companionate love), Pragma (practical love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), and Agape (selfless love). The most frequent associations of paintings with each one of the six love styles were used to ask to the students to write stories about them. Students discussed their choices and the reasons for them. These findings spurred lively discussion about love attitudes. Students' overall evaluations of the activity were positive and encouraged the use of this activity in future courses. Key-words: art, love styles, paintings. ********** Social relationships, and particularly love relationships, are at the core of human life. The question of what constitutes love has been addressed by poets, novelists, philosophers, theologians and, of course, psychologists (Myers & Shurts, 2002; Neto, 2005). In every part of the world, love is considered as one of the most important feelings which human beings experience, and being in love leaves an indelible social and psychological mark. The domain of love constitutes one of the most important sectors of our society. For instance, Salvatore and Munoz Sastre (2001) found that love life was the main predictor of well-being. Love is essential to mental health. Freud (1924) argued that "A strong ego is protection against disease, but in the last resort we must begin to love in order that we may not fall ill, and we must fall ill if, in consequence of frustration, we cannot love" (p. 42). Similarly, Sternberg and Grajek (1984) noted that "Love can be among the most intense of human emotions, and is certainly one of the most sought after. People have been known to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill in its name, yet no one knows quite what it is" (p. 312). Love in all its forms--love of romantic partner, parents, children, and friends--is among the most fundamental aspects of the experience of being human. Although the current activity focuses on romantic love specifically, we recognize the fundamental importance of all forms and manifestations of love. After decades of neglect, in last decades there has been a major resurgence of interest within social psychology in the subject of love in general (e.g., Berscheid & Walster, 1974; Brown, 1994; Hendrick & Hendrick, 1992; Myers & Shurts, 2002; Neto, 1993; Rubin, 1970; Sternberg, 1986). One result of this interest has been the emergence of a number of theories or typologies of love. Work on romantic love focused on the multidimensional complexity of the phenomenon. Early formulations by Hatfield and Walster (1978) distinguished passionate love from companionate love. Passionate love involves a short and intense relationship whereas companionate love involves a close and enduring one. Clark and Mills (1979) differentiated exchange relationships (based on interpersonal economics) from communal love (based on altruistic motives). Sternberg (1986) proposed a three-dimensional model of love involving passion, intimacy, and commitment. Hazan and Shaver (1987) extended Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory to adult romantic relationships, and also proposed a three-dimensional model. Although conceptions of love vary widely, one prominent and influential approach to the psychology of love has been a conceptual model of the six "colors of love", also known as love styles (Lee, 1973, 1988). Lee (1973) used the metaphor of a color wheel to develop his conception of love as available in different and equally beautiful colors--similar to colors on a color wheel. Although Lee described love (like color) as having primary, secondary, and even tertiary mixes, most of the research based on Lee's approach has concentrated on six relatively independent love styles. …