Lee Types

"Love is a multidimensional concept, and psychologists and sociologists have defined it in a variety of ways over the years. John Lee is perhaps the most quoted researcher on love with his six love types. Lee assumed that we all shared six core components of love and that our current loving relationship can be assessed and measured. Lee also claimed that there are qualities of love types—some more long-lasting and supportive of relationships and some pathological and defective, which inhibit relationships. Lee’s love types are widely used to help people understand their love styles. Lee claimed that six types of love comprised our loving experiences.\n\nEros is the love of sensuality: sex, taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell. Eros love is often what we feel when turned on. Eros love is neither good nor bad; it is simply part of the overall love composite we experience with another person.\n\nStorgé is the love of your best friend in a normal casual context of life. Storgé is calm and peaceful, surprising to some who might have simply hung out together at one point but suddenly discovered that their friendship deepened and became more important than other friendships. “We started needing to be together, talking on the phone for hours, and missing each other when apart,” are common descriptions of Storgé love.\n\nPragma is the love of details and qualities in the other person. Pragma lovers are satisfied and attracted by the other because of their characteristics, such as athleticism, intelligence, or wealth. Pragma lovers feel love at a rational level—thinking to a certain degree about the good deal.\n\nAgapé is the love that is selfless, other-focused, and seeks to serve others rather than receive from others. In Christian theology it is the love of God for mankind.\n\nLudis is an immature love that is more of a tease than a legitimate loving relationship. Ludic lovers trick their mates into believing that they are sincerely in love, while grooming one, two, or even three other lovers at the same time. Ludic lovers typically artificially stroke their sense of self-worth by playing a cruel game on their lovers, who end up feeling used and betrayed.\n\nMania is an insecure love that is a mixture of conflict and artificially romantic Eros expressions. Manic lovers fear abandonment and are simultaneously terrified by the vulnerabilities they feel when intimate with their lover. Thus, their daily routines typically involve extreme highs and lows, including arguing, making love, sweet-talking, and fighting with their lovers."