How Love and Lust Change People’s Perception of Partners and Relationships

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

Because love is related to thoughts in the distant future and sex triggers thoughts related to the present, based on construal level theory, we propose a link between love and a global processing style as well as a link between lust and a local processing style. These processing styles should further expand to partnership evaluations, partially explaining halo phenomena. In Study 1, college students and senior participants were primed by either imagining a walk with a person they were in love with, or a one-night stand. In Study 2, love and lust were primed subliminally. In all studies, love priming enhanced global, holistic processing and halos, whereas lust priming enhanced local, detail oriented processing and reduced halos. Moreover, in Study 1, temporal distance mediated the effects. Implications for research of moods on processing styles, partner perception, and the distinction between love and lust are discussed.

Object Details

• Extent: Seite(n): 237-246
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Postprint; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Psychologie ; Sozialpsychologie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Förster, Jens ; Özelsel, Amina ; Epstude, Kai
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (when): 2009

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.009
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-314977
• Rights: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST