Love styles associated with game playing and self-serving pragmatism are more common among individuals exhibiting Dark Triad personality traits, according to a 2010 academic article.
The article, “The dark side of love: Love styles and the Dark Triad,” was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Personality and Individual Differences, in June 2010. The writeup reported on research conducted by Peter K. Jonason and Philip Kavanagh.
What Are Love Styles?
Jonason and Kavanagh’s study focused on how the Dark Triad valued and engaged in the six love styles, which are as follows:
Eros is characterized by passionate love and intense emotional chemistry. Elements like physical attraction and strong romantic feelings are associated with this style.
Ludus describes a non-committal approach to love. The thrill of the chase is important to this style, as is game playing and pushing boundaries. Emotional attachment is avoided and multiple partners are common.
Storge prioritizes deep friendship and companionship as the basis of love. It develops gradually over a longer period of time, and is rooted in shared interests and mutual respect. Stability and security are key to this love style.
Pragma is a cerebral love style concerned with practicality. Individuals with this love style are forever running their partners and relationships through a cost-benefit analysis, making sure specific criteria are fulfilled. Here, love is processed with the head and not the heart.
Mania is a love style that combines intense passion with possessiveness and insecurity. Individuals with this love style may experience extreme highs and lows in their relationships. Manic lovers may be jealous, possessive, and fear abandonment; these behaviors relate it to the anxious attachment style described in attachment theory.
Agape is characterized by selfless and unconditional love. Individuals with this love style prioritize their partner’s well-being and happiness above their own. Agapic lovers demonstrate empathy, compassion, and a willingness to sacrifice for the sake of their relationship.
The Methods Employed
The study’s framework examined the Dark Triad as a collection of overlapping personality traits and behaviors associated with narcissism (grandiosity, entitlement, a need for admiration and validation), psychopathy (coldness, antagonism, disregard for social norms), and Machiavellianism (manipulation, calculation). Dark Triad behavior in relation to the six love styles was then measured.
The study evaluated 244 women and 58 men, of which 92 percent were heterosexual, four percent were homosexual, and four percent were bisexual. Americans comprised 70 percent of total participants, with the remaining coming from countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain.
Three different tests were used to evaluate Dark Triad traits. The 40-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory was used to measure narcissism, the 31-item Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-III was used to measure psychopathy, and the 20-item MACH-IV was used to measure Machiavellianism.
The six love styles were measured using the 42-question Hendrick and Hendricks Love Attitudes Scale.
The Findings
The two most common love styles favored by the Dark Triad were Ludus (game playing) and Pragma (analytical and practical).
Jonason and Kavanagh evaluated the study’s results by looking at Dark Triad as a solid composite as well as the three personality styles as individual and separate patterns.
With this in mind, the data collected shows that the psychopathy component largely accounts for the detection of Ludus within the Dark Triad. The Ludus love style was not associated with either narcissism or Machiavellianism, according to this study.
In the words of Jonason and Kavanagh:
The ludus love style was localized to psychopathy only. Game playing may be characteristic of those high on psychopathy in that it provides the sufficient excitement and sensation these individuals hunger for or may keep individuals at arms length to maintain a short-term mating style.
Pragma registered among all three Dark Triad personality styles, however. Jonason and Kavanagh believe this due to the “fast life strategy” of individuals exhibiting Dark Triad traits; this is a life style associated with “short-term gains, aggressiveness, deviance, and selfishness.”
Jonason and Kavanagh explain their finds as follows:
Individuals who score high on the Dark Triad may not pursue ‘love’ relationships because of their affections for someone but, instead, the usefulness they see the other person serving…
This suggests that the pragma love style not only characterizes the love life of those with high levels of any of the Dark Triad traits, but also suggests that this love style actually accounts for some of the shared variance among the three. In other words, this love style provides theoretical and empirical insight into the nature of the Dark Triad.
Jonason and Kavanagh predicted that the Eros love style would rank in the measurements, but it did not.
They hypothesize that this might work in relation to Pragma. Perhaps individuals oriented toward the Dark Triad prioritize the usefulness and practical benefits of a potential partner over the pure lust and passion associated with Eros.
This research makes it clear that Dark Triad-oriented individuals enter romantic relationships solely to meet their own needs.
