Love styles

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Love styles are models of lovers developed by Susan Hendrick and Clyde Hendrick. They identified six basic theories that people use in their interpersonal relationships:

• Eros — a passionate physical love based on physical appearance
• Ludus — love is played as a game; love is playful
• Storge — an affectionate love that slowly develops, based on similarity
• Pragma — pragmatic love
• Mania — highly emotional love; unstable; the stereotype of romantic love
• Agape — selfless altruistic love; spiritual

Furthermore, they found men tend to be more ludic, whereas women tend to be storgic and pragmatic. Relationships based on similar love styles were found to last longer. People often look for people with the same love style as themselves for a relationship.

Ludus

Those whose love style is described as Ludus tend to:

• Keep their passions in check
• Avoid trouble and intensity in their relationships
• Feel uncomfortable about commitment
• Keep secrets from their significant other
• Are more likely to have affairs

This love style is observed more often in men.

Pragma

This is the form of love based on practical reasons. A statement like "I'll marry him because he has a well paid job" would be an example.

Mania

Those whose style can be described as Mania tend have these personal characteristics:

• They tend to be jealous romantic partners
• They tend to be obsessive romantic partners
• Their self-worth comes from the relationship
• They tend to have an intense infatuation/need for love

This is often the first love style teenagers display.

Extreme examples of mania in movies include:

• Fatal Attraction
• American Beauty (1999 film)
• Swim Fan
• Taxi Driver