Love and Relationship Satisfaction as a Function of Romantic Relationship Stages

Abstract The strong influence of the components of love in the relationship satisfaction is very described in the scientific literature. The current cross-sectional study evaluated the associations between participants’ love and relationship satisfaction across different phases of a relationship. For this propose, we recruited a sample of 1102 Brazilian participants, including 756 (68.6%) women and 346 (31.4%) men (mean age = 25.52 years, SD = 7.98), from 12 Brazilian states and the Federal District. Participants’ relationship was coded in order of bond levels: 0 - unrequited relationship, 1 - non-established relationship, 2 - dating, 3 - living together or engaged, and 4 - married. A linear regression analysis indicated that the influence of passion on relationship satisfaction is higher, and the influence of commitment is lower, in more advanced phases of one’s relationship. Multilevel regression showed the role of bond, interacting with the dimensions of love on the prediction of relationship satisfaction. The associations between types of love and relationship satisfaction differ across relationship stages. While the influence of passion and intimacy on relationship satisfaction grows across the relationships’ stages, the influence of commitment decreases. This study also suggests that type of relationship can be understood as an ordinal variable, instead of categorical.