Companionate Love Scale

Abstract

The Companionate Love Scale (CLS) was developed by Elaine Hatfield and Richard L. Rapson to provide a measure of companionate love, also known as affectionate, tender, or marital love, within intimate relationships. Introduced as part of their broader work on cross-cultural perspectives on love and sex, the CLS aims to assess aspects of commitment and intimacy that characterize long-term bonds, contrasting with the intense emotional focus of passionate love. This measure assists researchers in analyzing how close relationships function across diverse global societies, moving beyond traditional Western-centric models of psychology.

Keywords

Companionate Love, Affectionate Love, Hatfield, Rapson, Intimacy, Commitment, Cross-Cultural Research, Psychological Scale, Close Relationships.

Authors

Elaine Hatfield, Richard L. Rapson.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Companionate Love Scale is to quantitatively assess the presence and intensity of companionate love experienced by an individual toward a specific romantic partner. Companionate love is conceptually distinct from passionate love, focusing instead on enduring affection, deep attachment, mutual care, and the shared feelings characteristic of established, long-term relationships.

The scale serves as a critical tool in cross-cultural research, allowing scholars to compare how stable, committed love manifests and is valued across various global populations, thereby contributing to a more universal understanding of intimate relationships.

Construct

The CLS measures companionate love, a psychological construct often defined as the affection and tenderness felt for those whose lives are deeply intertwined with one’s own. This form of love is characterized by stability, reliability, and emotional closeness, and typically develops after the initial intensity of passionate love subsides or coexists alongside it.

Based on the structure provided in the instrument, the scale appears to operationalize companionate love across at least two primary sub-components: Decision/Commitment (the cognitive choice to maintain the relationship and the expectation of permanence) and Intimacy (feelings of emotional closeness, mutual understanding, and promoting the partner’s well-being). These components align broadly with established theories of love, particularly those emphasizing long-term relational stability.

Validity

Detailed evidence regarding the validity of the Companionate Love Scale (CLS), including construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, is published in the foundational literature by the scale’s authors. Researchers seeking specific validation data are directed to the primary source text: Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. (1996). Love and sex: Cross-cultural perspectives. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Given the scale’s explicit design for cross-cultural application, the validity research likely examines the scale’s applicability and measurement equivalence across diverse cultural contexts, ensuring the construct of companionate love is consistently measured globally.

Reliability

Information concerning the reliability of the CLS, such as internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) and test-retest reliability, is documented in the psychometric chapter of the scale’s originating publication. High reliability is essential for a psychological instrument, confirming that the scale consistently measures the level of companionate love.

Specific reliability coefficients and related statistical analyses can be found in the key reference: Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. (1996). Love and sex: Cross-cultural perspectives. This work provides the necessary psychometric grounding for the scale’s use in academic and clinical settings.

Factor Analysis

Although the original source content does not explicitly detail the factor analysis results, the structure of the scale items strongly suggests a multi-dimensional structure. The items are clearly grouped into sections labeled Decision/Commitment and Intimacy, indicating that the scale is intended to measure these two primary factors underlying the broader construct of companionate love.

A typical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) would likely confirm a two-factor model, where items load distinctly onto their respective subscales. Researchers should consult the 1996 text for empirical confirmation of this proposed factor structure and the specific loadings.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report quantitative measure

Format: Likert-type rating scale (9 points)

Language Available: Primarily English (designed for cross-cultural translation)

Population Group: Individuals currently or previously involved in romantic or intimate relationships.

Age Group: Adults (typically used with college-aged students and older populations)

Population Details: The scale was developed with a focus on gathering data from a cross-cultural sample to challenge Western-centric views of love and relationship dynamics.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the degree to which statements about their feelings toward a specific partner are true, using a 9-point scale ranging from “Not at all true of me” to “Extremely true of me.” The total score is calculated by summing the responses across all items.

Keywords

Affective Measurement, Relationship Science, Marital Love, Commitment, Intimacy, Psychometrics, Social Psychology, Elaine Hatfield.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Companionate Love Scale was formally introduced and published in 1996. For usage permissions, researchers must contact the authors, Elaine Hatfield and Richard L. Rapson, or the publishers of the foundational texts (Allyn & Bacon or HarperCollins). Standard academic use may require formal permission, though the scale items are often cited openly in research literature.

Test Year: 1996 (Primary publication year in Love and sex: Cross-cultural perspectives).

Reference’s

• Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Love, sex, and intimacy: Their psychology, biology, and history. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 0-06-500702-6.
• Hatfield, E., & Rapson, R. (1996). Love and sex: Cross-cultural perspectives. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 0-205-16103-0.

Items of the Companionate Love Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

We would also like to know how you feel (or once felt) about the person you love, or have loved, most companionately. Some common terms for companionate love are affectionate love, tender love, true love, or marital love.

Please think of the person whom you love most companionately right now. If you are not in love right now, please think of the last person you loved. If you have never been in love, think of the person whom you came closest to caring for in that way. Try to tell us how you felt at the time when your feelings were the most intense.

Who are you thinking of?:

              Someone I love right now.

              Someone I once loved.

              I have never been in love.

Please indicate your feelings on the following scale:

1           2           3           4            5            6          7           8           9

Not at all         Somewhat         Moderately             Quite           Extremely true of me                   true of me          true of me            true of me       true of me

Decision/Commitment

I expect my love for          to last for the rest of my life.

I can’t imagine ending my relationship with          .

I am committed to maintaining my relationship with          .

I have confidence in the stability of my relationship with          .

Intimacy

I strongly desire to promote the well being of          .

I have a relationship of mutual understanding with          .

          is able to count on me in times of need.

I feel emotionally close to          .

l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

              Total Companionate Love Scale Score