The function of love: A signaling-to-alternatives account of the commitment device hypothesis
| dc.contributor.author | Benjamin Gelbart | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kathryn V. Walter | |
| dc.contributor.author | Daniel Conroy-Beam | |
| dc.contributor.author | Casey Estorque | |
| dc.contributor.author | David Michael Buss | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kelly Asao | |
| dc.contributor.author | Agnieszka Sorokowska | |
| dc.contributor.author | Piotr Sorokowski | |
| dc.contributor.author | Toivo Aavik | |
| dc.contributor.author | Grace A. Akello | |
| dc.contributor.author | Conroy-Beam, Daniel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Estorque, Casey | |
| dc.contributor.author | Asao, Kelly | |
| dc.contributor.author | Zupancic, Maja | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gelbart, Benjamin | |
| dc.contributor.author | Buss, David M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Walter, Kathryn V. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-06T17:48:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Love is commonly hypothesized to function as an evolved commitment device disincentivizing the pursuit of romantic alternatives and signaling this motivational shift to a partner. Here we test this possibility against a novel signaling-to-alternatives account in which love instead operates by dissuading alternatives from pursuing oneself. Overall we find stronger support for the latter account. In Studies 1 and 2 we find that partner quality relative to alternatives positively predicts feelings of love and love fails to mitigate the negative effects of desirable alternatives on relationship satisfaction—contradicting the classic commitment device account. In Study 3 using a longitudinal design we replicate these effects and find that changes in partner quality relative to alternatives predict changes in love over time. In Study 4 we replicate the relationship between love and relative partner quality across 44 countries. In Study 5 we find a nearly one-to-one correspondence between the extent to which partner-directed actions are diagnostic of love and reductions in romantic alternatives' attraction to the actor. These results suggest that love may not act as a commitment device in the classic sense by disincentivizing the pursuit of alternatives but by disincentivizing alternatives from pursuing oneself. © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | National Science Foundation [1845586]; Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) [501.01-2016.02]; Ministry of Science and Higher Education [626/STYP/12/2017]; National Science Center-Poland [2014/13/B/HS6/02644]; Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow, Russia [01201370995]; Hungarian Scientific Research Fund -(OTKA) [K125437]; National Nature Science Foundation of China [71971225]; UKRI/GCRF Gender, Justice, Security Grant [AH/S004025/1]; Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) [P5-0062] | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Hungarian Scientific Research Fund; National Foundation for Science and Technology Development, NAFOSTED; The Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, ARRS; UK Research and Innovation, UKRI; American Roentgen Ray Society, ARRS, (P5–0062); American Roentgen Ray Society, ARRS; GIST Cancer Research Fund, GCRF, (AH/S004025/1); GIST Cancer Research Fund, GCRF; National Science Center—Poland, (01201370995, 2014/13/B/HS6/02644); OTKA, (K125437); Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki, MNiSW, (626/STYP/12/2017); Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki, MNiSW; National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, (71971225); National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC; National Science Foundation, NSF, (1845586, 501.01-2016.02); National Science Foundation, NSF | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1845586. The work of Truong Thi Khanh Ha was supported by grants 501.01-2016.02 from the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED). Anna Oleszkiewicz was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Grant No. 626/STYP/12/2017). Agnieszka Sorokowska and Piotr Sorokowski were supported by National Science Center-Poland (Grant No. 2014/13/B/HS6/02644). Marina Butovskaya and Daria Dronova were supported by State assignment project No. 01201370995 of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow, Russia. Petra Gyuris, Andras Lang, and Norbert Mesko were supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund -(OTKA; Grant No. K125437). Feng Jiang was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71971225). Grace Akello was supported by UKRI/GCRF Gender, Justice, Security Grant (Grant No. AH/S004025/1). Tina Kavcic and Maja Zupancic were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS; research core funding np. P5-0062). | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1845586 . The work of Truong Thi Khanh Ha was supported by grants 501.01-2016.02 from the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED). Anna Oleszkiewicz was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Grant No. 626/STYP/12/2017 ). Agnieszka Sorokowska and Piotr Sorokowski were supported by National Science Center—Poland (Grant No. 2014/13/B/HS6/02644 ). Marina Butovskaya and Daria Dronova were supported by State assignment project No. 01201370995 of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow, Russia . Petra Gyuris, Andras Lang, and Norbert Meskó were supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund — (OTKA; Grant No. K125437 ). Feng Jiang was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71971225 ). Grace Akello was supported by UKRI/GCRF Gender, Justice, Security Grant (Grant No. AH/S004025/1 ). Tina Kavčič and Maja Zupančič were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS; research core funding np. P5–0062 ). | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106672 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 10905138 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1090-5138 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1879-0607 | |
| dc.identifier.scopus | 2-s2.0-105005391782 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105005391782&doi=10.1016%2Fj.evolhumbehav.2025.106672&partnerID=40&md5=141c6e7394675451add9b45865ae078b | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://gcris.yasar.edu.tr/handle/123456789/8032 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106672 | |
| dc.language.iso | English | |
| dc.publisher | Elsevier Inc. | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Evolution and Human Behavior | |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | |
| dc.source | Evolution and Human Behavior | |
| dc.subject | Close Relationships, Commitment Device, Evolutionary Psychology, Quality Of Alternatives, Romantic Love, Signaling Theory | |
| dc.subject | Close Relationships | |
| dc.subject | Evolutionary Psychology | |
| dc.subject | Quality of Alternatives | |
| dc.subject | Commitment Device | |
| dc.subject | Romantic Love | |
| dc.subject | Signaling Theory | |
| dc.title | The function of love: A signaling-to-alternatives account of the commitment device hypothesis | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| gdc.author.id | Cueto Saldívar, Rosa María/0000-0003-3549-2001 | |
| gdc.author.id | Mesko, Norbert/0000-0002-4355-9563 | |
| gdc.author.id | Varella, Marco/0000-0002-7274-7360 | |
| gdc.author.id | Prokop, Pavol/0000-0003-2016-7468 | |
| gdc.author.id | Esteves, Carla Sofia/0000-0002-7307-8373 | |
| gdc.author.id | KAFETSIOS, KONSTANTINOS/0000-0001-5933-4409 | |
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| gdc.author.wosid | Rizwan, PhD, Dr. Muhammad/AHE-3495-2022 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | Hromatko, Ivana/HGE-3202-2022 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | Cueto Saldívar, Rosa María/JGD-8983-2023 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | Özener, Barış/AAC-5491-2020 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | JAAFAR, JAS LAILE SUZANA/AFW-3787-2022 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | Popa, Camelia/AAM-1653-2021 | |
| gdc.author.wosid | Duyar, İzzet/AAU-1489-2020 | |
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| gdc.description.departmenttemp | [Gelbart, Benjamin; Walter, Kathryn V.; Conroy-Beam, Daniel] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Dept Psychol & Brain Sci, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA; [Estorque, Casey] Univ Calif Los Angeles, Div Populat Behav Hlth, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA; [Buss, David M.] Univ Texas Austin, Dept Psychol, Austin, TX 78712 USA; [Asao, Kelly] Westminster Coll, Dept Psychol, Salt Lake City, UT 84105 USA; [Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Sorokowski, Piotr; Czub, Marcin; Frackowiak, Tomasz; Niemczyk, Agnieszka; Oleszkiewicz, Anna; Pisanski, Katarzyna] Univ Wroclaw, Inst Psychol, PL-50137 Wroclaw, Poland; [Aavik, Toivo] Univ Tartu, Inst Psychol, EE-50090 Tartu, Estonia; [Akello, Grace] Gulu Univ, Dept Mental Hlth, Fac Med, Gulu, Uganda; [Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh] Middle East Univ, English Language Dept, Amman 11181, Jordan; [Alm, Charlotte; Lindholm, Torun] Stockholm Univ, Dept Psychol, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden; [Amjad, Naumana] Univ Punjab, Dept Psychol, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; [Anjum, Afifa] Univ Punjab, Inst Appl Psychol, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; [Atama, Chiemezie S.] Univ Nigeria, Dept Sociol & Anthropol, Nsukka 410002, Nigeria; [Duyar, Derya Atamturk; Duyar, Izzet; Ertugrul, Berna; Ozener, Baris] Istanbul Univ, Dept Anthropol, TR-34452 Istanbul, Turkiye; [Batres, Carlota] Franklin & Marshall Coll, Dept Psychol, Lancaster 17603, England; [Bendixen, Mons; Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen] Norwegian Univ Sci & Technol NTNU, Dept Psychol, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway; [Bensafia, Aicha] Univ Algiers 2, Dept Sociol, EFORT, Algiers 16000, Algeria; [Bizumic, Boris; Lennard, Georgina R.; McKerchar, Sarah L.; Monaghan, Conal] Australian Natl Univ, Sch Med & Psychol, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; [Boussena, Mahmoud; Guemaz, Farida] Univ Setif 2, Dept Psychol & Educ Sci, Setif 19000, Algeria; [Butovskaya, Marina; Dronova, Daria] Russian Acad Sci, Inst Ethnol & Anthropol, Moscow 119991, Russia; [Butovskaya, Marina] Russian State Univ Humanities, Moscow 119991, Russia; [Can, Seda; Dural, Seda] Izmir Univ Econ, Dept Psychol, TR-35300 Izmir, Turkiye; [Carrier, Antonin] Catholic Univ Louvain, Psychol Fac CECOS, B-1348 Louvain La Neuve, Belgium; [Cetinkaya, Hakan] Yasar Univ, Dept Psychol, TR-35100 Izmir, Turkiye; [Croy, Ilona] Tech Univ Dresden, Dept Psychotherapy & Psychosomat Med, D-1069 Dresden, Germany; [Maria Cueto, Rosa; Espinosa, Agustin; Leon, Ernesto] Pontificia Univ Catolica Peru, Dept Psicol, Grp Psicol Polit & Social GPPS, Lima 15088, Peru; [Estevan, Ignacio; Mailhos, Alvaro] Univ Republ, Fac Psicol, Motevideo 11200, Uruguay; [Esteves, Carla Sofia] Univ Catolica Portuguesa, Catolica Lisbon Sch Business & Econ, Catolica Lisbon Res Unit Business & Econ, P-1649026 Lisbon, Portugal; [Fang, Luxi; Hui, Chin-Ming] Chinese Univ Hong Kong, Dept Psychol, Hong Kong, Peoples R China; [Contreras Garduno, Jorge] UNAM, Escuela Nacl Estudios Super, Unidad Morelia, Morelia 58190, Michoacan, Mexico; [Ugalde Gonzalez, Karina; Diego Vega, Luis] Univ Latina Costa Rica, Dept Psychol, San Jose 11501, Costa Rica; [Gyuris, Petra; Lang, Andras; Mesko, Norbert] Univ Pecs, Inst Psychol, H-7624 Pecs, Hungary; [Herak, Iskra; Kervyn, Nicolas] Catholic Univ Louvain, Louvain Res Inst Management & Org LOURiM, B-1348 Louvain La Neuve, Belgium; [Hromatko, Ivana; Tadinac, Meri] Univ Zagreb, Fac Humanities & Social Sci, Dept Psychol, Zagreb 10000, Croatia; [Jaafar, Jas Laile] Univ Malaya, Dept Educ Psychol & Counseling, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia; [Jiang, Feng] Univ Leicester, Sch Business, Brookfield LE2 1RQ, England; [Kafetsios, Konstantinos] Aristotle Univ Thessaloniki, Dept Psychol, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece; [Kafetsios, Konstantinos] Palacky Univ, Katedra Psychol, Olomouc 77900, Czech Republic; [Jiang, Feng] Univ Ljubljana, Fac Hlth Sci, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia; [Truong Thi Khanh Ha; Hoang Moc Lan; Trinh Thi Linh; Nguyen Van Luot] Univ Social Sci & Humanities, Dept Psychol, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam; [Khilji, Imran Ahmed] IMCB, Dept Psychol, F-10-4, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan; [Khilji, Imran Ahmed] Bahria Univ Islamabad, Dept Profess Psychol, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan; [Lopez, Giulia; Parise, Miriam] Univ Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Dept Psychol, I-20123 Milan, Italy; [Manesi, Zoi] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Dept Expt & Appl Psychol, NL-1081 Amsterdam, Netherlands; [Misra, Girishwar] Univ Delhi, Dept Psychol, Delhi 110021, India; [Mora, Emanuel C.; Pisanski, Annette] Univ Havana, Fac Biol, Dept Anim & Human Biol, Havana, Cuba; [Moya-Garofano, Alba] Univ Granada, Dept Social Psychol, Granada 18010, Spain; [Musil, Bojan; Plohl, Nejc] Univ Maribor, Fac Arts, Dept Psychol, Maribor 2000, Slovenia; [Natividade, Jean Carlos] Pontifical Catholic Univ Rio de Janeiro, Dept Psychol, BR-22451000 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; [Nizharadze, George] Free Univ Tbilisi, Dept Social Sci, Tbilisi 2, Georgia; [Oberzaucher, Elisabeth] Univ Vienna, Fac Life Sci, A-1030 Vienna, Austria; [Oleszkiewicz, Anna] Tech Univ Dresden, Dept Otorhinolaryngol, Smell & Taste Clin, D-01307 Dresden, Germany; [Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian] INTI Int Univ, Fac Educ & Liberal Arts, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia; [Onyishi, Ike E.] Univ Nigeria, Dept Psychol, Nsukka 410002, Nigeria; [Pagani, Ariela F.] Univ Urbino Carlo Bo, Dept Humanities, I-61029 Urbino, Italy; [Pakalniskiene, Vilmante; Sargautyte, Ruta] Vilnius Univ, Inst Psychol, LT-1513 Vilnius, Lithuania; [Pazhoohi, Farid] Univ Plymouth, Sch Psychol, Plymouth PL4 8AA, Devon, England; [Pisanski, Katarzyna] Univ Lyon 2, Dynam Language Lab DDL, F-69363 Lyon, France; [Ponciano, Edna] Univ Estado Rio De Janeiro, Inst Psychol, BR-20550900 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; [Popa, Camelia] Romanian Acad, Dept Psychol, UNATC CINETIc, Bucharest 30167, Romania; [Prokop, Pavol] Comenius Univ, Dept Environm Ecol & Landscape Management, Bratislava 84215, Slovakia; [Prokop, Pavol] Slovak Acad Sci, Inst Zool, Bratislava 84506, Slovakia; [Rizwan, Muhammad] Natl Univ Med Sci, Dept Clin Psychol, Rawalpindi, Pakistan; [Salkicevic, Svjetlana] Univ Zagreb, Fac Humanities & Social Sci, Dept Psychol, Zagreb 10000, Croatia; [Sarmany-Schuller, Ivan] Inst Expt Psychol SAS, Ctr Social & Psychol Sci, Bratislava 84104, Slovakia; [Sharad, Shivantika] Univ Delhi, Vivekananda Coll, Dept Appl Psychol, Delhi 110095, India; [Siddiqui, Razi Sultan] DHA Suffa Univ, Dept Humanities & Social Sci, Karachi 75500, Pakistan; [Simonetti, Franco] Pontificia Univ Catolica Chile, Sch Psychol, Santiago 8331150, Chile; [Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova] South West Univ Neofit Rilski, Dept Psychol, Blagoevgrad 2700, Bulgaria; [Correa Varella, Marco Antonio] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Psychol, Dept Expt Psychol, BR-05508030 Sao Paulo, Brazil; [Vauclair, Christin-Melanie] Inst Univ Lisboa ISCTE IUL, CIS IUL, P-1649026 Lisbon, Portugal; [Widarini, Dwi Ajeng] Univ Prof Dr Moestopo Beragama, Fac Commun, Jakarta 10270, Indonesia; [Yoo, Gyesook] Kyung Hee Univ, Dept Child & Family Studies, Seoul 02447, South Korea; [Zatkova, Marta] Constantine Philosopher Univ Nitra, Dept Psychol Sci, Fac Social Sci & Hlth Care, Nitra 94974, Slovakia; [Zupancic, Maja] Univ Ljubljana, Fac Arts, Dept Psychol, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia | |
| gdc.description.issue | 2 | |
| gdc.description.publicationcategory | Makale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı | |
| gdc.description.startpage | 106672 | |
| gdc.description.volume | 46 | |
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| gdc.oaire.keywords | [SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio] | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Romantic love, Commitment device, Quality of alternatives, Evolutionary psychology, Close relationships, Signaling theory | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | function of love | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Quality of alternatives | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | cross-cultural | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Signaling theory | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | commitment device hypothesis | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | love, partner, commitment, multi-cultural, | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | [SHS] Humanities and Social Sciences | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Evolutionary psychology | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Romantic love | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Close relationships | |
| gdc.oaire.keywords | Commitment device | |
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| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | Gelbart- Benjamin (57875343400), Walter- Kathryn V. (57216454514), Conroy-Beam- Daniel (54784032000), Estorque- Casey (59709640300), Buss- David Michael (25952017900), Asao- Kelly (55234361600), Sorokowska- Agnieszka (36669369300), Sorokowski- Piotr (23098130400), Aavik- Toivo (6506269038), Akello- Grace A. (18435949600) | |
| project.funder.name | This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1845586 . The work of Truong Thi Khanh Ha was supported by grants 501.01-2016.02 from the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED). Anna Oleszkiewicz was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Grant No. 626/STYP/12/2017 ). Agnieszka Sorokowska and Piotr Sorokowski were supported by National Science Center\u2014Poland (Grant No. 2014/13/B/HS6/02644 ). Marina Butovskaya and Daria Dronova were supported by State assignment project No. 01201370995 of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Moscow Russia . Petra Gyuris Andras Lang and Norbert Mesk\u00F3 were supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund \u2014 (OTKA, Grant No. K125437 ). Feng Jiang was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71971225 ). Grace Akello was supported by UKRI/GCRF Gender Justice Security Grant (Grant No. AH/S004025/1 ). Tina Kav\u010Di\u010D and Maja Zupan\u010Di\u010D were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS, research core funding np. P5\u20130062 ). | |
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