Four Years, One Try(angle): Using Sternberg’s Triangular Love Theory to Evaluate the Effects of Time on College Relationships

Abstract

Sternberg proposed that love consists of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. In this study, Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale was used to evaluate the passion, intimacy, and commitment within college students’ romantic relationships. Anecdotal evidence reveals a misconception among young individuals, suggesting young adult relationships only grow stronger in passion as relationship duration increases, whereas relationships during later parts of life see a diminishing of passion as the relationship continues. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of time on intimacy, passion, and commitment in college relationships. In particular, this study evaluated whether college relationships are just as vulnerable to the effects of time as relationships that take place during later parts of life. Results from this study show that commitment and intimacy, and passion scores were not significantly correlated with relationship length. Also, since passion did not decrease with relationship duration, as seen in previous studies, an implication is that the level of passion in a relationship may be affected by the age of the individuals involved instead of the relationship duration.