Attitudes toward Love: A Reexamination

Author(s): Dennis E. Hinkle and Michael J. Sporakowski

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 37, No. 4, Special Section: Macrosociology of the
Family (Nov., 1975), pp. 764-767
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/350827 .
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 Attitudes Toward Love: A Reexamination*
DENNIS E. HINKLE
AND
MICHAEL J. SPORAKOWSKI**
VirginiaPolytechnic Institute and State University
The Knox-SporakowskiAttitudes Towards Love scale was subjected to factor analy-
sis. Principal component analysis indicated unidimensionality of the scale. Addition-
al analyses suggested the possibility of three subscales. Labels for the subscales were
assigned. Suggestions for further research with the scale were made.

Knox and Sporakowski (1968) reported on
the development and use of a scale which
measured an individual's expressed attitudes
towards love on a continuum from "Ro-
mantic" to "Conjugal." This scale had been
developed using the "panel of judges"
technique and a high and low quartile
comparison of results as the basis for an item
analysis. Twenty-nine items out of the
original 200 significantly discriminated be-
tween the groups compared. Original find-
ings indicated that: females were less
romantic in attitudes towards love than
males; with increasing age both males and
females became less romantic in orientations;
and, for males, becoming engaged led to a
more realistic attitude toward love (females
had similar attitudes whether they were
engaged or not).
Kanin, Davidson and Scheck (1970)
discuss male-female differentials in the
experience of heterosexual love, and conclude
that labeling "more" or "less romantic" may
be unwarranted or fruitless.
More recently, Knox (1970) used a scale
that included 84 items in measuring attitudes
towards love across a wider range of age
groups. He found that: conceptions of love
vary across stages of marriage; and, a
romantic conception of love is not incompat-
ible with marriages that have been in
existence more than 20 years. The compari-
sons involved high school seniors, persons
*Data for this study were compiled between
September, 1973, and December, 1974.
**Department of Management, Housing and Family
Development, College of Home Economics, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg,
Virginia 24061.
married less than 5 years, and persons
married more than 20 years. The resulting
scale (Knox, 1971) included 30 items of 40
which discriminated at the p < .01 level and
were judged by Knox as being most useful.
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
The present study was an attempt to clarify
what the original Knox-Sporakowski scale is
measuring in hopes of assessing its utility in
future as well as past research. The general
assumption of this study was that the
Knox-Sporakowski scale is unidimensional,
but it was also assumed that several
intercorrelated subscales exist. Thus factor
analysis methodology, specifically, principal
component analysis, was employed to
investigate these assumptions. Principal
component analysis was selected as the most
appropriate factor analytic methodology for
this investigation since the study was to
investigate the total variation of the scale
items without regard to whether the variance
was common or unique.
The subjects used in this investigation were
234 undergraduate students enrolled in
MHFD 3200, The Individual and Marriage,
at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University. These students completed the
original Knox-Sporakowski scale as part of
the materials used in the section of the course
dealing with love as a motivation for
marriage. The first step in the data analysis
was the determination of the 29x29 correla-
tion matrix for the scale items using
BMD-03D (correlation with item deletion) to
pairwise delete all missing data (maximum
pairs deleted for any scale item -- 7). This
correlation matrix was then used as input to
BMD-08M (factor analysis).

764 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY November 1975

TABLE1. INITIALPRINCIPALCOMPONENTS
ANALYSIS:TRUNCATEDMODEL
Factor
Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 0.54 --0.08 --0.07 --0.19 --0.04 --0.22 --0.03 --0.21
2 0.38 --0.06 0.45 0.14 --0.37 --0.10 0.32 --0.08
3 0.43 0.04 0.01 --0.23 0.16 0.12 0.42 --0.31
4 0.35 0.07 0.27 0.48 --0.05 --0.22 0.01 --0.27
5 0.27 --0.13 --0.34 0.05 --0.26 --0.22 0.33 0.17
6 0.38 --0.17 --0.30 --0.10 0.40 --0.27 0.16 0.11
7 0.38 0.44 0.26 --0.30 0.01 0.04 --0.13 0.21
8 0.42 0.49 0.05 --0.17 0.23 0.04 0.10 --0.10
9 0.37 0.56 0.06 0.17 --0.12 0.00 --0.15 --0.11
10 0.39 0.40 0.22 0.13 0.08 0.05 --0.17 0.10
11 0.53 --0.41 0.28 --0.27 --0.07 0.16 0.07 0.02
12 0.38 --0.25 0.11 --0.16 0.12 0.53 --0.05 --0.30
13 0.54 0.11 --0.38 --0.34 --0.19 --0.16 --0.26 --0.02
14 0.51 0.33 --0.10 --0.19 0.03 0.05 0.41 0.09
15 0.35 --0.06 --0.37 0.32 --0.20 --0.02 --0.07 --0.37
16 0.61 --0.00 0.05 --0.15 --0.22 --0.22 --0.07 0.08
17 0.33 0.05 0.46 --0.21 0.05 --0.44 --0.18 0.10
18 0.49 0.08 --0.33 0.28 0.18 0.15 0.04 0.19
19 0.39 --0.26 --0.10 0.38 0.30 0.03 0.02 0.13
20 0.54 --0.28 --0.23 --0.05 0.07 --0.03 --0.16 --0.10
21 0.54 -0.10 0.21 0.08 0.15 --0.06 --0.12 --0.37
22 0.53 --0.27 0.13 0.29 0.07 --0.14 --0.14 0.06
23 0.53 --0.05 --0.33 --0.21 --0.35 --0.05 --0.17 0.09
24 0.34 --0.46 0.38 0.00 --0.32 0.17 0.10 0.16
25 0.41 --0.04 --0.26 --0.13 --0.18 0.43 --0.20 -0.10
26 0.41 0.12 --0.21 0.41 --0.12 --0.02 --0.07 0.12
27 0.46 0.44 0.10 0.27 --0.17 0.35 0.13 0.18
28 0.51 --0.38 0.15 0.08 0.18 0.13 --0.14 0.39
29 0.58 0.04 0.04 --0.03 0.43 --0.05 0.07 0.03

In the initial principal components analy-
sis, eight factors were extracted using as the
criterion eigenvalues greater than 1.0 as the
cutoff for extraction of factors. The factor
matrix for this initial extraction is found in
Table 1.
As can be seen from the results of this
analysis, the scale does appear to be
unidimensional based upon the loadings on
the first factor or the principal component.
The criterion used to come to this conclusion
was a factor loading of .30416 or greater
which is one-half of the maximum loading on
the principal component. The exception was
item five with a factor loading of .27143. This
29x8 factor matrix was rotated obliquely to
determine if at this stage of the analysis a
simple factor structure existed. No simple
structure was evidenced.
Additional analyses were performed in an
attempt to investigate the second assumption
in this study, i.e., several intercorrelated
subscales exist. In these analyses, the number
of factors rotated was reduced sequentially
from seven to two. Each of the factor matrices
was rotated obliquely since it was determined
that the scale appeared to be unidimensional;
thus, the subscales would necessarily be
intercorrelated. Each of the factor structures
was then subjected to review by the authors.
It was concluded that, as the number of
factors to be rotated was reduced from seven
to two, the factor structures became more
logical in defining distant factors, with the
29x3 obliquely rotated factor matrix being
the most logical. The factor pattern matrix is
presented in Table 2. As can be seen, 25 of the
29 items had high loadings identified with a
unique factor; only items 3, 4, 16 and 29
evidenced factorial complexity; these items
had moderate loadings on two or more
factors. Based upon this analysis and review
of item groupings, the names given to the
three factors were as follows:
Factor I-Traditional Love-One Person
Factor II-Love Overcomes All
Factor III-Irrationality
The matrix of intercorrelations among the
three factors is presented in Table 3. It
indicated that there did exist, within the

November 1975 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 765

TABLE 2. OBLIQUELY ROTATED FACTOR MATRIX

Factor
Item I II III
1. When you are really in love, you just aren't interested in anyone else. 0.40 0.12 0.26
5. To be in love with someone without marriage is a tragedy. 0.47 ---0.10 --0.02
6. When love hits, you know it. 0.50 ---0.79 0.08
13. Usually there are only one or two people in the world whom you could really
love and could really be happy with. 0.61 0.21 --0.08
15. It is necessary to be in love with the one you marry to be happy. 0.53 --0.02 --0.06
18. Love is regarded as a primary motive for marriage, which is good. 0.54 0.18 --0.04
19. When you love a person, you think of marrying that person. 0.33 --0.11 0.28
20. Somewhere there is an ideal mate for most people. The problem is just
finding that one. 0.54 -0.11 0.28
23. There are probably only a few people that any one person can fall in
love with. 0.59 0.07 0.05
25. Love often comes but once in a lifetime. 0.46 0.06 0.04
26. You can't make yourself love someone; it just comes or it doesn't. 0.39 0.22 --0.03

2. Love doesn't make sense. It just is. --0.20 0.26 0.54

11. When you are in love, you are usually in a daze. 0.09 --0.09 0.71
12. Love at first sight is often the deepest and most enduring type of love. 0.14 --0.05 0.42
17. Parents should not advise their children whom to date; they have forgotten
what it is like to be in love. -0.24 0.30 0.44
21. Jealousy usually varies directly with love; that the more in love you are,
the greater the tendency for you to become jealous. 0.12 0.18 0.47
22. Love is best described as an exciting thing rather than a calm thing. 0.20 --0.00 0.52
24. When you are in love, your judgment is usually not too clear. --0.09 -0.18 0.72
28. Day dreaming usually comes along with being in love. 0.20 --0.10 0.59

3. When you fall head-over-heels-in-love, it's sure to be the real thing. 0.22 0.21 0.19
4. Love isn't anything you can really study; it is too highly emotional to be
subject to scientific observation. -0.06 0.28 0.31
16. When you are separated from the love partner, the rest of the world seems
dull and unsatisfying. 0.28 0.25 0.33
29. When you are in love, you don't have to ask yourself a bunch of questions
about love; you will just know that you are in love. 0.26 0.29 0.28

7. Common interests are really unimportant; as long as each of you is truly in

love, you will adjust. ---0.10 0.63 0.08
8. It doesn't matter if you marry after you have known your partner for only a
short time as long as you know you are in love. 0.10 0.64 --0.08
9. As long as two people love each other, the religious differences they have really
do not matter. 0.07 0.68 --0.14
10. You can love someone even though you do not like any of that person's friends. --0.05 0.59 0.08
14. Regardless of other factors, if you truly love another person, that is enough to
marry that person. 0.32 0.49 --0.04
27. Differences in social class and religion are of small importance in selecting a
marriage partner as compared with love. 0.09 0.62 0.00

unidimensional scale, three correlated yet TABLE 3. FACTOR CORRELATION MATRIX

distinct factors, i.e., verifying the second
I II III
assumption. Subsequent principal compo-
nent analysis excluding items 3, 4, 16 and 29 I 1.00 0.21 0.28
resulted in highly similar factor structures II 1.00 0.24
and intercorrelations of the three factors. 1II 1.00
In the final analysis of this investigation, the unidimensionality of the scale and the
the matrix of intercorrelations among the relative strength of each of the factors in the
three factors served as the input for a principal component. The full model was
second-order principal component analysis. extracted overriding the eigenvalue criterion
The purpose of this analysis was to check on of 1.0 for truncating the model. The

766 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY November 1975

TABLE 4. SECOND ORDER FACTOR MATRIX TABLE 5. ITEM WEIGHTS

Factors Item Weight Item Weight

I II III 1 0.05 16*
1. 0.74 0.67 ---0.04 2 0.17 17 0.11
2. 0.75 ---0.29 0.59 3* 0.21
3. 0.75 ---0.3'7 0.55 4* .18 0.11
5 0.06.19 20 0.18
6 0.11 21 0.12
7 0.22 22 0.13
second-orderfactormatrixfor the full model 8 0.21 23 0.16
is found in Table 4. The results of this 9 0.22 24 0.27
analysisindicateda furtherstrengtheningof 10
11
0.18
0.25
25
26
0.13
0.17
the assumption that the scale was unidi- 12 0.14 27 0.16
mensional.The data also indicateFactorsII 13 0.16 28 0.18
and III are more intercorrelated with 14 0.13 29*
themselves than with Factor I (see full 15 0.24
model), but all three had equal strengthon *These items loaded on more than one factor. There-
the PrincipalComponent. fore, no weights should be assigned to these items in
using the instrument with the age and educational levels
CONCLUSIONSAND described.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based upon the results of this investiga- and educational levels, stable weightings
tion, the authors concluded that the should be established through subsequent
assumptionthat the Knox-Sporakowski scale analysis on additional subjects. It is also
was unidimensionalwith several intercor- suggestedthat the fouritemswhichloadedon
relatedsubscaleswas confirmed.Since each more than one of the factors be further
of the factors was shown to have equal exploredand an evaluationmade as to their
strength on the Principal Component, the contributionto the overallscale.
process of scoring the Knox-Sporakowski
scaleshouldbe investigatedfurther.Previous
investigationsassumedequalweightingof the
29 items. The present data suggest that an REFERENCES
item weightingbased upon factor analysisbe
Kanin, E. J., K. R. Davidson, and S. R. Scheck
consideredsince there are differingnumbers 1970 "A research note on male-female differentials in
of items in each of the subscales.If this scale the experience of heterosexual love." The Jour-
wereto be used with a group similarin age nal of Sex Research 6 (February):64-72.
and educationallevel, the followingweight- Knox, D. H.
ings are recommended,based on the present 1970 "Conceptions of love at three developmental
analysis(see Table 5). stages." The Family Coordinator 19 (April):
151-157.
Using these weightingsthree factorscores, 1971 Discussion Guide to accompany A Love Atti-
one for each subscale,can be computed.The tude Inventory. Saluda, N.C.: Family Life
researchercould use either the three factor Publications.
scoresin describingthe subscalesindividually Knox, D. H. and M. J. Sporakowski
or sum the threefactorscoresand use this as 1968 "College students attitudes toward love." Jour-
the total score. However, before such a nal of Marriage and the Family 30 (November):
procedurewould be employedacross all age 638-642.

November1975 JOURNALOF MARRIAGEAND THE FAMILY 767