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The Influence of Love, Equity, and Alternatives on Commitment in Romantic Relationships

Duane W. Crawford

Du Feng

Judith L. Fischer

Texas Tech University

Lisa K. Diana

Kadena Air Force Base

This study investigated the connections between respondents’ feelings about their partners (love), evaluations of their relationships (equity), perceptions of relationship alternatives, and commitment to remain in their present relationships. It was predicted that love and equity would be better predictors of commitment than would perceived relationship alternatives. Respondents were 297 university students who reported they were involved in close relationships—typically, steady dating relationships—when the data were collected. Results indicated that (a) commitment was moderately associated with love, equity, and alternatives; (b) respondents’ perceptions of the quality of their available relationship alternatives explained more of the variance in commitment than either love or equity; and (c) commitment and alternatives loaded on the same factor in an exploratory factor analysis and thus were confounded. Implications of these findings are considered and directions for future research are suggested.

Key Words: commitment • love • equity • alternatives

Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3, 253-271 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0095399702250182
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[Abstract] [PDF]