Experiencing love in daily life

What is it about?

We conducted a daily life study over a four-week period, in which we tapped into the emotional experiences, such as levels of felt and expressed love, via smartphone surveys six (random) times a day. The methodology provided a rich and ecologically valid dataset, capturing the ebb and flow of loving experiences as participants (N=52) engaged in their everyday activities. Our nuanced analysis honed in on the dynamic interplay between the experience of feeling loved and the act of expressing love. Results revealed a compelling pattern: individuals who reported an increase in expressed love also noted a corresponding increase in their feelings of being loved as time went on, suggesting that the act of expressing love can amplify one's sense of being loved. Interestingly, however, the reversed was not observed; those who felt more loved did not necessarily show a rise in expressing love over time. Moreover, the study uncovered an association between the enduring sensation of being loved and higher levels of psychological well-being, as assessed at the study's outset.

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Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Why is it important?

These insights pave the way for potential interventions aimed at fostering the expression of love in daily life: considering that individuals who expressed more love also reported feeling more loved as time progressed, and given that the lingering of feeling loved correlated with higher psychological well-being, it would make sense to explore strategies, such as smartphone-based daily life interventions, that could promote the expression of love in everyday life situations.

Perspectives