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New research published in Violence Against Women identifies distinct profiles of love in romantic relationships and links them to varying risks of psychological abuse. The findings indicate that relationships characterized primarily by passion, but lacking intimacy and commitment, are associated with higher levels of severe psychological aggression and controlling behaviors.
Psychological intimate partner violence is a pervasive public health issue that violates women’s human rights. While physical and sexual violence are often the focus of public discourse, psychological abuse is equally damaging and widespread.
This form of violence includes behaviors intended to control, manipulate, or inflict emotional harm on a partner. It can manifest as verbal aggression, intimidation, isolation from friends and family, and threats.
Statistics from the World Health Organization estimate that nearly one-third of women globally have been subjected to violence by an intimate partner. Psychological violence specifically is reported at high rates, with some surveys in the European Union showing a prevalence of over 40 percent.
The consequences of such abuse are severe and long-lasting. Victims often suffer from chronic pain, digestive issues, and mental health challenges.
Despite the harm caused by these relationships, many women remain with abusive partners. One reason for this is the complex nature of emotional attachment. Popular belief often frames love and violence as mutually exclusive, assuming that if abuse is present, love must be absent.
However, scientific literature suggests that feelings of love can coexist with abusive behaviors. This paradox can lead victims to rationalize a partner’s actions or hope for change.
“We were motivated by a persistent gap in the literature: although psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread and highly damaging, its relationship with love, particularly the components of intimacy, passion, and commitment, remains poorly understood,” said study author Patrick Raynal, a senior research scientist at INSERM.
“Popular discourse often assumes that ‘love protects’ or that abusive relationships lack love entirely. Yet prior research hinted at a more complicated picture, where love and abuse can coexist. We wanted to empirically examine this paradox and identify whether different love profiles are associated with different patterns of psychological aggression and controlling behaviors.”
To better understand this dynamic, the researchers utilized Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love. This theoretical framework posits that love is composed of three distinct components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
Intimacy refers to feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness. Passion involves the drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation. Commitment encompasses the decision to remain with one another and the shared plans for the future.
The researchers aimed to determine how different combinations of these three components relate to psychological aggression. They sought to identify specific “love profiles” among women and analyze whether certain profiles were more susceptible to controlling or aggressive behaviors from their partners.
The research team recruited 1,061 women to participate in an online survey. Participants were required to be at least 18 years old and to have been in a relationship for a minimum of 12 months. The average age of the participants was approximately 30 years old. Most participants reported being in relationships with male partners.
The survey employed three standardized measures to collect data. First, the researchers used the Psychological Aggression subscale of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. This tool assesses the frequency of aggressive behaviors, such as insults or destruction of property, over the past year. It distinguishes between minor aggression and severe aggression.
Second, the Controlling Behavior Scale-Revised was used to measure various forms of coercive control. This scale includes questions regarding economic control, threatening behaviors, intimidation, emotional manipulation, and isolation. Participants rated how often their partners engaged in these actions.
Third, the participants completed the Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale. This measure asks individuals to rate their relationship based on the three theoretical components of intimacy, passion, and commitment. The researchers then used a statistical technique called cluster analysis to group the women based on their love scores.
The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of relationships. The first group was labeled “Moderate Love.” This was the largest group, comprising about 48 percent of the sample. These women reported moderately high levels of intimacy, passion, and commitment.
The second group was labeled “No Love.” This group made up about 12 percent of the sample. Participants in this category reported scores significantly below the average for all three components.
The third group was identified as “Low Passion.” Comprising roughly 24 percent of the participants, this group reported average levels of intimacy and commitment but very low levels of passion. This profile resembles what Sternberg describes as “companionate love,” which is often found in long-term marriages where the spark has faded but the bond remains strong.
The fourth group was labeled “Mostly Passion.” This cluster represented about 14 percent of the sample. These women reported passion scores that were slightly above average. However, their scores for intimacy and commitment were significantly lower than the rest of the sample. This profile suggests a relationship driven by infatuation or physical attraction without a foundation of trust or stability.
The researchers then compared these four groups against the scores for psychological aggression and control. As expected, the “No Love” cluster reported the highest levels of abuse across almost all measures.
Women in this group experienced more minor and severe aggression, as well as higher rates of economic, threatening, intimidating, emotional, and isolating control. This aligns with the idea that the deterioration of all loving feelings often accompanies a highly toxic or abusive dynamic.
A more nuanced finding emerged when comparing the “Low Passion” and “Mostly Passion” groups. The study revealed that the “Mostly Passion” cluster exhibited higher levels of severe psychological aggression than the “Low Passion” cluster. While both groups had imbalances in their love components, the presence of high passion combined with low intimacy and commitment appeared to be a riskier combination than the stable, low-passion dynamic.
The “Mostly Passion” group also reported higher levels of specific controlling behaviors. These women were statistically more likely to experience threatening and emotional control compared to those in the “Low Passion” group. Trends for economic, intimidating, and isolating control also pointed to higher rates in the “Mostly Passion” group.
“The most striking and counterintuitive finding was that high passion combined with low intimacy and low commitment was associated with more severe psychological aggression than relationships characterized by low passion but higher intimacy and commitment,” Raynal told PsyPost. “This challenges the common belief that passion is inherently positive or protective. Instead, passion without emotional closeness or stability may create volatile relational environments where control and aggression are more likely to emerge.”
The authors propose that the “Mostly Passion” dynamic might reflect relationships that are unstable or obsessive. In such contexts, the intense emotions associated with passion might manifest as jealousy or possessiveness. This can escalate into controlling behaviors and psychological aggression.
“The key takeaway is that love alone does not prevent psychological violence,” Raynal said. “In fact, certain forms of love, especially relationships marked by high passion but low intimacy and commitment, may be associated with greater psychological aggression and controlling behaviors. Conversely, relationships with balanced, moderate levels of all three love components tend to show the lowest levels of abuse. Understanding the quality and balance of love matters more than simply whether love is present.”
But as with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The design was cross-sectional, meaning it captured a snapshot of the participants’ lives at a single point in time. It is not possible to determine causality from this data.
“A crucial caveat is that this study does not imply that passion causes violence,” Raynal explained. “Passion may coexist with other unmeasured factors, such as personality traits, attachment styles, or past trauma, that contribute to psychological IPV.”
“Another important point: the ‘No Love’ cluster showed the highest overall levels of psychological aggression and control, but this does not mean that the absence of love is the cause of abuse. Rather, low love and high abuse may co-occur in deteriorating or harmful relationships.”
Future research could address these gaps by following couples over time. Longitudinal studies would allow scientists to observe how the components of love shift as violence begins or escalates. It would also be beneficial to include partners in the research to see if their perceptions of the relationship match those of the women.
The researchers also recommend that future studies investigate other variables that might influence these patterns. Personality traits, attachment styles, and past experiences with trauma could all play a role in how love and violence intersect.
“Ultimately, the goal is to translate these insights into better prevention strategies and more tailored support for victims,” Raynal said.
The implications of this study are significant for therapists and support services. Professionals working with victims of domestic violence often need to understand why a client remains with an abusive partner. Recognizing that a victim may be experiencing high levels of passion, even in the absence of trust or safety, can help tailor interventions.
“One important point is that the study highlights the complexity of intimate relationships,” Raynal added. “Love is not a simple protective factor, nor is violence limited to relationships devoid of affection.”
“By identifying distinct love profiles, we hope to encourage more nuanced conversations, both in research and in public discourse, about how emotional dynamics shape vulnerability to psychological IPV. This complexity also underscores the need for practitioners to assess not just whether love exists in a relationship, but how it is structured.”
The study, “Love’s Paradox: Unraveling the Dynamics of Love and Psychological Intimate Partner Violence Against Women,” was authored by Cécylia Ablana, Patrick Raynal, and Natalène Séjourné.