Forms of Expression of Love and the Intensity of Young’s Early Maladaptive Schemas in a Group of Adult Poles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12923/2353-8627/2025-0012Keywords:
love languages, early maladaptive schemas, relationship qualityAbstract
Introduction: Romantic relationships are a key component of an individual’s mental health and overall well-being. Attachment theory and Young’s early maladaptive schema theory indicate that early childhood experiences shape how close relationships are established in adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between forms of expressing love (distinguished on the basis of Chapman’s theory) and the intensity of early maladaptive schemas in a group of adult Poles in romantic relationships (the term “intensity of schemas” refers to the overall level of consolidation and the strength of the influence on an individual’s functioning of the beliefs underlying early maladaptive schemas). An additional objective was to determine whether the quality of a romantic relationship depends on the forms of expressing love and the intensity of early maladaptive schemas in the individual being assessed.
Material and method: The study involved a group of 296 adult Poles in romantic relationships (aged between 18–70 years (M = 30.11; SD = 10.97); 65% women). Participants completed the following questionnaires: the Young Parenting Inventory (YPI); the Forms of Expression of Love Questionnaire (FOREM) and the Partnership Questionnaire (PFB). Since the distributions of the variables studied were not normal , non-parametric statistical methods were applied.
Results: Retrospectively assessed paternal behaviors were found to be significantly associated with the development of early maladaptive schemas in two domains: Disconnection/Rejection and Impaired Limits, whereas maternal behaviours, in the participants’ assessment, were significant for the development of two other schema domains: Impaired Autonomy and Performance and Other-Directedness. For the domain Overvigilance and Inhibition, both parents were perceived to have a comparable influence on the formation of schemas in this area. Higher intensity of early maladaptive schemas was associated with lower intensity of preferred forms of expressing love, particularly in the domains of physical touch, acts of service, quality time, and words of affirmation. Relationship quality was positively correlated with preferred forms of expression of love, whereas the intensity of early maladaptive schemas showed no significant association with relationship quality.
Conclusions: 1. Higher intensity of early maladaptive schemas is linked to less frequent displays of intimacy in romantic relationships. This applies to four forms of expression of love: physical touch, acts of service, quality time, and words of affirmation. 2. A greater variety of intimacy expressions is positively related to the subjectively perceived quality of a romantic relationship.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Monika Ewa Talarowska, Maria Frąckiewicz (Autor)
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