Motivations for Unreciprocated Love

Abstract

Consistent with a mini-theory of motivational factors in unreciprocated love, (a) perceived potential value of a relationship with another; perceived probability of such a relationship; and desirability of the state of being in love with this other, even if it is unreciprocated, were each significantly and independently predictive of reported intensity of unreciprocated love; (b) incidence of unreciprocated love was greatest for those whose self-reported attachment style was anxious/ambivalent; and (c) perceived potential value of the relationship was most predictive of intensity for anxious/ambivalents and perceived desirability of the state was most predictive of intensity for avoidants. Findings are based on structural equation modeling analyses of questionnaire responses from a moderately large sample of U.S. undergraduates and were not qualified by gender.