Philosophy

Love plays an integral role in mate selection in individualistic cultures. However, love does not have much role to play in the collectivist cultures. The more economically developed a culture is, the more will it be individualist in nature. Since in collectivist culture marriage between two people affects the entire family love takes a backseat.

There are many different combinations of love. There is infatuated love which lacks the components like intimacy and commitment and is solely based on passion. These relationships do not last long. This kind of love is more rampant in individualist society as it concerns only the lovers themselves. Another combination makes companionate love. This love generally lacks passion but has the ingredients like commitment and intimacy. This love is common in collectivist society where a large percentage of people opt for arranged marriages. When there is an arranged marriage naturally the entire family is involved and commitment becomes an important quotient. After many years of marriage when passion takes a backseat then couples are in companionate relationships. The third and the best combination of love is of course the consummate love. This love can be found in both the cultures especially in newly married couples. In newly married couples there is loads of passion and intimacy is not difficult to achieve. In collectivist cultures attaining commitment is not a difficult thing. While in the individualist cultures, there can be many cases when commitment is the basis of relationship. Thus if couples are able to achieve the ideal combination of intimacy, passion and commitment then they are the happiest of all.

There are two strong reasons that cause the different combinations of love. The first reason is of course the culture one belongs to. The culture plays an important role in deciding the ratio of intimacy, passion and commitment in individuals. The second reason is the stage of life a couple is in. Youngsters experience more of romantic or infatuated love. Couples with children are more into companionate or consummate love. Very old couples are into companionate love.