What the theory says, and how it compares to Sternberg's triangular theory
Sociologist John Alan Lee proposed that, just as mixing colors creates new colors, love has a handful of primary styles that combine to form the full range of ways people love. He identified Eros, Ludus, and Storge as the three primary styles, and Pragma, Mania, and Agape as secondary styles formed by combining two primaries at a time. This differs from Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love, which explains the "shape" of love through the combination of three components -- intimacy, passion, and commitment. Lee's theory instead focuses on the "attitude and style" each person brings to love -- meaning two people in the very same relationship can have different love styles, and that mismatch can shape both conflict and compatibility within the relationship.
How it's measured
Psychologists Clyde Hendrick and Susan Hendrick developed the Love Attitudes Scale to measure Lee's theory empirically. Since then, the scale has been used in relationship research to study how a person's love style relates to relationship satisfaction and how they handle conflict.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one person have more than one love style at the same time?
Yes. Lee himself presented these six types as pure "ideal types," while acknowledging that real people experience love as a blend of several styles. Which style stands out most can also shift depending on the partner or the stage of the relationship.
Is the mania style always a bad kind of love?
Mania is described as a style prone to possessiveness and anxiety, but this isn't a judgment of love as 'right' or 'wrong' -- it's more a description of what kind of difficulties a particular style tends to run into in a relationship. Understanding your own tendencies can be a useful reference point for noticing recurring patterns in your relationships.