THE SIX TYPES OF LOVE

EROS: BEAUTY AND SENSUALITY
Erotic love focuses on beauty and physical attractiveness, sometimes to the exclusion of qualities you might consider more important and more lasting. The erotic lover has an idealized image of beauty that is unattainable in reality. Consequently, the erotic lover often feels unfulfilled. In defense of eros, however, it should be noted that both male and female eros lovers have the highest levels of reward and satisfaction when compared with all other types of lovers (Morrow, Clark, & Brock 1995).

LUDUS: ENTERTAINMENT AND EXCITEMENT
Ludus love is seen as fun, a game to be played. To the ludic lover, love is not to be taken too seriously; emotions are to be held in check lest they get out of hand and make trouble. Passions never rise to the point at which they get out of control. A ludic lover is self- controlled and consciously aware of the need to manage love rather than to allow it to control him or her. The ludic lover is manipulative and the extent of one’s ludic tendencies has been found to correlate with the use of verbal sexual coercion (Sarwer, Kalichman, Johnson, Early, et al. 1993). Ludic-oriented sexually coercive men also experience less hapiness, frienship, and trust in their relationships than do noncoercive men (Kalichman, Sarwer, Johnson, & Ali 1993). Ludic lover tendencies in women are likewise related to a dissatisfaction with life. (Yancey & Berglass 1991).

STORGE LOVE: PEACEFUL AND SLOW
Like ludus love, storge love lacks passion and intensity. Storgic lovers do not set out to find lovers but to establish a companion-like relationship with someone they know and with whom they can share interests and activities. Storgic love develops over a period of time rather than in one mad burst of passion. Sex in storgic relationships comes late, and when it comes it assumes no great importance. Storgic love is sometimes difficult to separate from friendship; it is often characterized by the same qualities that characterize friendship: mutual caring, compassion, respect, and concern for the other person.

PRAGMA: PRACTICAL AND TRADITIONAL
The pragma lover is practical and wants compatibility and a relationship in which important needs and desires will be satisfied. In its extreme, pragma may be seen in the person who writes down the qualities wanted in a mate and actively goes about seeking someone who matches up. The pragma lover is concerned with the social qualifications of a potential mate even more than personal qualities; family and background are extremely important to the pragma lover, who relies not so much on feelings as on logic. The pragma lover views love as a necessity–--or as a useful relationship---that makes the rest of life easier. The pragma lover therefore asks such questions about a potential mate as, “Will this person earn a good living?” “Can this person cook?” and “Will this person help me advance in my career?”

MANIC LOVE: ELATION AND DEPRESSION
The quality of mania that separates it from other types of love is the extremes of its highs and lows, its ups and downs. The manic lover loves intensely and at the same time worries intensely about and fears the loss of the love. With little provocation, for example, the manic lover may experience extreme jealousy. Manic love is obsessive; the manic lover has to possess the beloved completely---in all ways, at all times. In return, the manic lover wishes to be possessed, to be loved intensely. It seems almost as if the manic lover is driven to these extremes by some outside force or perhaps by some inner obsession that cannot be controlled.

AGAPE: COMPASSIONATE AND SELFLESS
Agape is a compassionate, egoless, self-giving love. Agape is nonrational and nondiscriminative. Agape creates value and virtue through love rather than bestowing love only on that which is valuable and virtuous. The agapic lover loves even people with whom he or she has no close ties. This lover loves the stranger on the road, and the fact that they will probably never meet again has nothing to do with it. Jesus, Buddha, and Gandhi practiced and preached this unqualified love. Agape is a spiritual love, offered without concern for personal reward or gain. The agapic lover loves without expecting that the love will be returned or reciprocated. For women, agape is the only love style positively related to their own life satisfaction (Yancy & Berglass 1991).


Observa los afijos de las siguientes palabras y con base en ello escribe el significado de cada una.

1. lover(s)
2. reality
3. compatibility
4. necessity
5. sensuality
6. relationship
7. friendship
8. actively
9. intensely
10. seriously
11. consciously
12. selfless
13. egoless
14. atractiveness
15. hapiness
16. nonrational
17. nondiscriminative
18. noncoercive
19. unqualified
20. unattainable
21. unfulfilled
22. dissatisfaction

Relaciona la siguiente lista de palabras con su equivalente en español. Recuerda tomar en cuenta el contexto.

1. lasting (eros) _____
2. caring (storge) _____
3. seeking (pragma) _____
4. feelings (pragma) _____
5. living (pragma) _____
6. bestowing (agape) _____
7. compared (eros) _____
8. related (ludus) _____
9. beloved (manic) _____
10. possessed (manic) _____
11. preached (agape) _____


a) comparado
b) otorgar
c) el ser amado
d) predicado
e) duraderas
f) cuidado, preocupación
g) buscar
h) poseído
i) relacionado
j) sentimientos
k) ganarse la vida