Piotr SorokowskiMarta KowalRobert J. SternbergToivo AavikGrace AkelloMohammad Madallh AlhabahbaCharlotte AlmNaumana AmjadAfifa AnjumKelly AsaoChiemezie S. AtamaDerya Atamturk DuyarRichard AyebareDaniel Conroy-BeamMons BendixenAicha BensafiaBoris BizumicMahmoud BoussenaDavid M. BussMarina ButovskayaSeda CanAntonin CarrierHakan CetinkayaIlona CroyRosa Maria CuetoMarcin CzubDaria DronovaSeda DuralIzzet DuyarBerna ErtugrulAgustin EspinosaIgnacio EstevanCarla Sofia EstevesTomasz FrackowiakJorge Contreras GardunoKarina Ugalde GonzalezFarida GuemazMaria HalamovaIskra HerakMarina HorvatIvana HromatkoChin-Ming HuiJas Laile JaafarFeng JiangKonstantinos KafetsiosTina KavcicLeif Edward Ottesen KennairNicolas KervynTruong Thi Khanh HaImran Ahmed KhiljiNils C. KobisAleksandra KosticHoang Moc LanAndras LangGeorgina R. LennardErnesto LeonTorun LindholmTrinh Thi LinhGiulia LopezNguyen Van LuotAlvaro MailhosZoi ManesiRocio MartinezSarah L. McKercharNorbert MeskoMarija PejicicGirishwar MisraConal MonaghanEmanuel C. MoraAlba Moya-GarofanoBojan MusilJean Carlos NatividadeGeorge NizharadzeElisabeth OberzaucherAnna OleszkiewiczMohd Sofian Omar-FauzeeIke E. OnyishiBaris OzenerAriela Francesca PaganiVilmante PakalniskieneMiriam PariseFarid PazhoohiAnnette PisanskiKatarzyna PisanskiEdna PoncianoCamelia PopaPavol ProkopMuhammad RizwanMario SainzSvjetlana SalkicevicRuta SargautyteIvan Sarmany-SchullerSusanne SchmehlAnam ShahidShivantika SharadRazi Sultan SiddiquiFranco SimonettiMeri TadinacChristin-Melanie VauclairLuis Diego VegaKathryn V. WalterDwi Ajeng WidariniGyesook YooMarta ZatkovaMaja ZupancicAgnieszka Sorokowska2025-10-0620232045-232210.1038/s41598-022-26663-4http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26663-4https://gcris.yasar.edu.tr/handle/123456789/7941Recent cross-cultural and neuro-hormonal investigations have suggested that love is a near universal phenomenon that has a biological background. Therefore the remaining important question is not whether love exists worldwide but which cultural social or environmental factors influence experiences and expressions of love. In the present study we explored whether countries' modernization indexes are related to love experiences measured by three subscales (passion intimacy commitment) of the Triangular Love Scale. Analyzing data from 9474 individuals from 45 countries we tested for relationships with country-level predictors namely modernization proxies (i.e. Human Development Index World Modernization Index Gender Inequality Index) collectivism and average annual temperatures. We found that mean levels of love (especially intimacy) were higher in countries with higher modernization proxies collectivism and average annual temperatures. In conclusion our results grant some support to the hypothesis that modernization processes might influence love experiences.EnglishPOPULATION-DENSITY, ROMANTIC LOVE, SEX, INDIVIDUALISMArticle