Validation of the Short Version (TLS-15) of the Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45) across 37 Languages

Abstract

Love is a phenomenon that occurs across the world and affects many aspects of human life including the choice of and process of bonding with a romantic partner. Thus developing a reliable and valid measure of love experiences is crucial. One of the most popular tools to quantify love is Sternberg’s 45-item Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45) which measures three love components: intimacy passion and commitment. However our literature review reveals that most studies (64%) use a broad variety of shortened versions of the TLS-45. Here aiming to achieve scientific consensus and improve the reliability comparability and generalizability of results across studies we developed a short version of the scale—the TLS-15—comprised of 15 items with 5-point rather than 9-point response scales. In Study 1 (N = 7332) we re-analyzed secondary data from a large-scale multinational study that validated the original TLS-45 to establish whether the scale could be truncated. In Study 2 (N = 307) we provided evidence for the three-factor structure of the TLS-15 and its reliability. Study 3 (N = 413) confirmed convergent validity and test–retest stability of the TLS-15. Study 4 (N = 60311) presented a large-scale validation across 37 linguistic versions of the TLS-15 on a cross-cultural sample spanning every continent of the globe. The overall results provide support for the reliability validity and cross-cultural invariance of the TLS-15 which can be used as a measure of love components—either separately or jointly as a three-factor measure. © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.