Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T05:25:19.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pathological Love: Impulsivity, Personality, and Romantic Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Eglacy C. Sophia ,
Hermano Tavares ,
Marina P. Berti ,
Ana Paula Pereira ,
Andrea Lorena ,
Cidália Mello ,
Clarice Gorenstein  and
Monica L. Zilberman
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction: Pathological love (PL)–behavior characterized by providing repetitive and uncontrolled care and attention to the partner in a romantic relationship–is a rarely studied condition, despite not being rare and causing suffering. This study aims at investigating impulsivity, personality, and characteristics related to the romantic relationship in this population.

Methods: Eighty-nine individuals (50 with PL; 39 individuals with no psychiatric disorder) were compared regarding impulsivity, personality, type of attachment, satisfaction with romantic relationship, and love style.

Results: Individuals with PL have higher levels of impulsivity (P<.001; Barratt Impulsiveness Scale), higher self-transcendence, that is, are more unconventional and hold sense of communion with a wider reality (P<.001; Temperament and Character Inventory) and keep dissatisfactory romantic relationships (P<.001; Adapted Relationship Assessment Scale).

Conclusion: Individuals with PL present personality traits and relationship aspects that must be taken into account in devising assessment and therapeutic strategies for this population.

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 14 , Issue 5 , May 2009 , pp. 268 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Sophia, EC, Tavares, H, Zilberman, ML. Pathological love: is it a new psychiatric disorder [Portuguese]? Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2007;29:55–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Simon, J. Love: addiction or road to self-realization, a second look. Am J Psychoanal. 1982;42:253–263.Google Scholar
3.Norwood, R. Women Who Love Too Much: When You Keep Wishing and Hoping He'll Change. Los Angeles, Calif: J.P. Tarcher; New York, NY: St. Martin's Press; 1985.Google Scholar
4.Fisher, M. Personal Love. London, UK: Duckworth; 1990.Google Scholar
5.Plato, . Dialogues: The Banquet; Fedon; Sofista; Politics. J, Paleikat, J, Cruz Costa, trans. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Editora Abril Cultural, SP; 1972.Google Scholar
6.Aristotle, . Nicomachean Ethics. M, da Gama Cury, trans. 4th ed. Brasília, Brasil: Editora Universidade de Brasília; 2001.Google Scholar
7.Kant, E. Grounds of Metaphysics of Costumes. P, Quintela, trans. Coimbra, Brasil: Atlântida; 1960.Google Scholar
8.Timmreck, TC. Overcoming the loss of a love: preventing love addiction and promoting emotional health. Psychol Rep. 1990;66:515–528.Google Scholar
9.Gjerde, PF, Onishi, M, Carlson, KS. Personality characteristics associated with romantic attachment: a comparison of interview and self-report methodologies. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2004;30:1402–1415.Google Scholar
10.Nelson, ES, Hill-Barlow, D, Benedict, JO. Addiction versus intimacy as related to sexual involvement in a relationship. J Sex Marital Ther. 1994;20:35–45.Google Scholar
11.Bogerts, B. Deslusional jealousy and obsessive love—causes and forms. MMW Fortschr Med. 2005;147:26, 28–29.Google Scholar
12.Moss, E. Treating the love-sick patient. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 1995;32:167–173.Google Scholar
13.Donnellan, MB, Larsen-rife, D, Conger, RD. Personality, family history, and competence in early adult romantic relationships. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2005;88:562–576.Google Scholar
14.Wang, AY, Nguyen, HT. Passionate love and anxiety: a cross-generational study. J Soc Psychol. 1995;135:459–470.Google Scholar
15.Marazziti, D, Akiskal, HS, Rossi, A, Cassano, GB. Alteration of the serotonin transporter in romantic love. Psychol Med. 1999;29:741–745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Leckman, JF, Mayes, LC. Preoccupations and behaviors associated with romantic and parental love. Perspectives on the origin of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 1999;8:635–665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.Google Scholar
18.Lee, JA. The Colours of Love: An Exploration of the Ways of Loving. Ontario, Canada: New Press; 1973.Google Scholar
19.Mallandain, I, Davies, MF. The colours of love: personality correlates os love styles. Pers Indiv Differ. 1994;17:557–560.Google Scholar
20.Chotai, J, Jonasson, M, Hägglöf, B, Adolfsson, R. Adolescent attachment styles and their relation to the temperament and character traits of personality in a general population. Eur Psychiatry. 2005;20:251–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Hazan, C, Shaver, P. Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1987;52:511–524.Google Scholar
22.Bowlby, J. Attachment and Loss: Volume 1. Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1969.Google Scholar
23.Ainsworth, MDS, Blehar, MC, Waters, E, Wall, S. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillside, Calif: Erlbaum; 1978.Google Scholar
24.Cloninger, CR, Przybeck, TR, Svrakic, DM, Wetzel, RD. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI): A Guide to its Development and Use. St. Louis, Mo: Center for Psychobiology of Personality; 1994.Google Scholar
25.Lorena, A, Sophia, EC, Mello, C, Tavares, H, Zilberman, ML. Group therapy for pathological love. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. In press.Google Scholar
26.Gentil, V, Zilberman, ML, Lobo, D, Henna, ED, Moreno, RA, Gorenstein, C. Clomipramine-induced mood and perceived performance changes in selected healthy individuals. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007;27:314–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Spitzer, RL, Williams JBW, Gibbon, M. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). I. History, rationale and description. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1992;49:624–629.Google Scholar
28.Tavares, H, Martins, SS, Lobo, DS, Silveira, CM, Gentil, V, Hodgins, DC. Factors at play in faster progression for female pathological gamblers: an exploratory analysis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64:433–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29.Hollingshead, A. Four factor index of social status, Unpublished manuscript. New Have, Conn: University of Yale Press; 1976.Google Scholar
30.Gorenstein, C, Andrade, L. Inventário de Depressão de Beck—propriedades psicométricas da versão em Português. In: Gorenstein, C, LHSG, Andrade, Zuardi, AW, eds. Escalas de Avaliação Clínica em Psiquiatria e Psicofarmacologia. São Paulo, Brasil: Lemos-Editorial; 2000:89–95.Google Scholar
31.Spielberger, CD, Gorsuch, RL, Lushene, RE. Manual for the Strait-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, Calif: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1970.Google Scholar
32.Patton, JH, Stanford, MS, Barratt, ES. Factor structure of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. J Clin Psychol. 1995;51:768–774.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33.Fuentes, D, Tavares, H, Camargo, CHP, Gorenstein, C. Inventário de Temperamento e de Caráter de Cloninger—validação da versão em Português. In: Gorenstein, C, LHSG, Andrade, Zuardi, AW, eds. Escalas de Avaliação Clínica em Psiquiatria e Psicofarmacologia. São Paulo, Brasil: Lemos-Editorial; 2000:363–376.Google Scholar
34.Hendrick, SS, Hendrick, C. Love and satisfaction. In: Sternberg, RJ, Hojjat, M, eds. Satisfaction in Close Relationships. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 1997:56–78.Google Scholar
35.Hendrick, SS. A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. J Marriage Fam. 1998;50:93–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36.Hendrick, C, Hendrick, SS, Dicke, A. The love attitude scale: short form. J Soc Pers Rel. 1998;15:147–159.Google Scholar
37.Lee, JA. A typology of styles of loving. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 1977;3:173–182.Google Scholar
38.Tabachnik, BG, Fidell, LS. Using Multivariate Statistics. 4th ed. Boston, Mass: Allyn and Bacon; 2001.Google Scholar
39.Tavares, H, Gentil, V. Pathological gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder: towards a spectrum of disorders of volition. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2007;29:107–117.Google Scholar
40.Fricker, J, Moore, S. Relationship satisfaction: the role of love styles and attachment styles. Curr Res Soc Psychol. 2001;7:182–204.Google Scholar