For those interested in the psychological, sociological, and historical foundations of love styles, below is a collection of new review articles presenting several compelling topics. These articles published in the Diversity of Love Journal challenge the common reduction of love styles to simple survey metrics and casual labels, offering theoretical, methodological, and historical perspectives on how individuals and cultures conceptualize the ways they love. Highlighting original card-sorting narrative methods, cultural foundations, and individual primary and secondary styles of love, these pieces reveal the complexity behind how people experience and maintain their love relationships.
Enjoy your reading!
John Lee’s Typology of Love Styles: The Original Theory Explained
What are the different types of love? Since the middle of the 20th century, the typology of love has been an interesting topic of inquiry for many people and love researchers. Scholars of love have proposed many different types of … Continue reading →
Exploring Love Styles Through Narratives: Revisiting J. Lee’s Original Method
How John Lee’s Card Interview Technique can restore depth to research on love. In the 1970s, sociologist John Alan Lee transformed relationship research with a groundbreaking, interactive “Love Story Card Sort.” Over the decades, however, his narrative method was … Continue reading →
How Cultural Ideologies Framed Modern Styles of Love
Why do we love the way we do? While contemporary psychology often treats love styles as individual traits, Canadian sociologist John Alan Lee recognized deeper roots of the way we love. It appears that our personal experiences of love are … Continue reading →
The Evolution of Love Typologies: From Lee’s Love Styles to Hendrick’s Love Attitudes
Over the last several decades, researchers of love have shifted from Lee’s comprehensive understanding of “love styles” to Hendrick’s variable-driven “love attitudes” for psychometric convenience—and in the process, lost the rich, hierarchical structure of individual orientations in love. This synthesis … Continue reading →
The Pragma Style of Love: Understanding the Practical Path to Compatibility
When John Lee introduced his color theory of love in the 1970s, he provided a rich, multi-faceted typology of how people experience and express love. Over time, however, popular literature and simplified measurement tools have condensed these vibrant styles into … Continue reading →
The Agape Style of Love: Understanding the Altruistic Path to Devotion
While modern discourse of love and relationship often centers on chemistry (Eros) or compatibility (Pragma), long-term relational stability frequently hinges on a far deeper psychological framework: altruistic devotion. In this article, I explore the multi-layered architecture of unconditional care in … Continue reading →
The Mania Style of Love: Understanding Obsessive Passion and Relational Insecurity
Love can be a source of deep security, but for some, it is defined by constant volatility, possessiveness, and an intense fear of loss. Known as the Mania love style, this style of love combines passionate romanticism with deep relational … Continue reading →
The Storge Style of Love: Understanding the Companionate Path to Stability
When we talk about ‘storgic love,’ we often reduce it to a simple label: love based on friendship. But sociology pioneer John Alan Lee’s original 1970s theory was far richer, framing Storge not as a simple dimension but as a … Continue reading →
The Ludus Style of Love: Understanding the Playful Path to Autonomy
Reclaiming the Complexity of John Lee’s Ludus Style of Love Modern relationship research often reduces the Ludus style of love to a simple score on a survey—tagging it as mere casual dating or uncommitted game-playing. But Canadian sociologist John Alan … Continue reading →
The Eros Style of Love: Understanding the Sensual Path to Physical Attraction
This article reassesses John Alan Lee’s seminal typology of love styles, examining how the original depth of the Eros archetype—defined by intense sensuality, physical attraction, and aesthetic alignment—was lost as holistic narrative methods gave way to simplified survey metrics like … Continue reading →
Enjoy your reading!
If you are interested in publishing your review articles for this journal, feel free to reach out to the International Institute of Love Studies at love.studies.institute@gmail.com.