'What is beautiful is loved': Physical attractiveness in love relationships in a representative sample

Romantic passion. The more psychological aspects of loving passion (e.g. recurrent intrusive thoughts of the loved one).

Intimacy. A special bonding affective link between both partners (communication, understanding etc.).

Comment Belief in the stability of the relationship and a decision, not necessarily conscious, to maintain it (confidence in the relationship lasting and in the stability of the relationship). Idealization of the "other". Positively-biased evaluation of the partner, evaluated by means of a Likert scale questionnaire item with five response levels (range 15). (These data were obtained only for those interviewees currently involved in a relationship).

Satisfaction with the relationship. This was evaluated by means of three questionnaire items about meeting expectations and satisfying personal needs, frequency of arguments (this was inversely scaled), and a direct self assessment, all with a response range 1-5. (These data were obtained only for those interviewees currently involved in a relationship).

PROCEDURE AND ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

Each interview was carried out individually in the interviewee's own home, and anonymity was guaranteed to all subjects. Interviewees were selected according to the sampling procedure detailed above. Once the responses had been coded, different types of data analysis were carried out; in the current study descriptive statistics, linear correlations, variance analysis, difference of averages and regression analysis are included. The statistical package used was SPSS 7.5 for Windows.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

HYPOTHESIS 1: KEY FACTORS AND MANNER OF FALLING IN LOVE

The results relating to the preferred characteristics in a partner are shown in Table 1, for both sporadic and stable relationships. As is clear from the table, and corroborating the first part of the hypothesis, the PAO not only appears as an important factor with respect to sporadic relationships, but also actually emerges as the single most important or most valued characteristic in the other person. The result is even more outstanding given that the interviewee was presented with some 20 explicit alternative responses and given the option to add any other response themselves.

However, the data indicate also that PAO seems to be much less relevant with respect to a stable relationship (it falls to 9th place), or at least this is what the interviewees reported. Maybe PAO really is a less important characteristic in such relationships, according to our previous statements in reference to Sociobiology, or to some psychosocial theories and research underlining the progressively growing importance of some factors -values, attitudes, personality, etc.- which need more time to act (From Levinger & Snoek, 1972; to Yela, 1998b). However, this result could be due also to the existence of an implicit social rule that penalizes the acknowledgement of the true importance of this factor in respect of a stable relationship, as previously suggested. In support of this last explanation, and as will be seen in the analyses which follow, the PA actually plays a relevant (though unrecognized) part in stable relationships as well. In any case, it is important to emphasize that both explanations are not mutually exclusive.