Love Styles Test (LAS-SF)

What is the Love Attitudes Scale?

The Love Attitudes Scale (LAS) was developed by Clyde Hendrick and Susan Hendrick at Texas Tech University and published in 1986. It measures six distinct love styles based on the typology proposed by Canadian sociologist John Alan Lee in his 1973 book The Colors of Love. The short form (LAS-SF) used here was developed by Hendrick, Hendrick, and Dicke in 1998 and has 24 items across six subscales. It is one of the most widely used instruments in relationship research.

What are the six love styles?

• Eros: Passionate, romantic love. Driven by intense attraction, chemistry, and emotional idealization.
• Ludus: Game-playing love. Playful, non-committal, values freedom and novelty.
• Storge: Friendship-based love. Grows slowly from companionship, shared history, and familiarity.
• Pragma: Practical love. Values compatibility, shared values, and long-term suitability over passion.
• Mania: Obsessive, possessive love. Marked by jealousy, preoccupation, and anxiety about the relationship.
• Agape: Altruistic, selfless love. Prioritizes the partner's wellbeing and happiness above one's own.

How is the test scored?

You rate 24 statements on a 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) scale. There are no reverse-scored items. Your score for each subscale is the mean of its four items, ranging from 1.0 to 5.0. A higher mean means stronger endorsement of that love style. Your dominant love style is the subscale with the highest mean score. The score bands (Low, Moderate, High, Very High) shown on the results page are editorial summaries to help you read your profile. The LAS-SF does not define canonical normative cutoffs, so treat the bands as approximate guides rather than precise thresholds.

Which love style is healthiest?

No single style is universally healthiest. Research tends to find that Eros and Agape are associated with higher relationship satisfaction, while Ludus and Mania show weaker or negative associations. Storge and Pragma tend to predict stable, enduring relationships. Most people show a mix of styles, and the balance shifts across relationships and life stages. The goal of this test is self-understanding, not scoring the right type.

Can your love style change over time?

Yes. Research shows love attitudes shift across relationships, age, and personal growth. Hendrick and Hendrick have documented that people tend to become less Ludus-oriented and more Pragma-oriented with age. Major life experiences, therapy, and sustained self-reflection can all influence how you approach love.

Is this a diagnosis?

No. Love styles are not mental health diagnoses. They are patterns of how you tend to approach romantic relationships. The LAS-SF is a research-validated self-report measure that gives a snapshot of your current orientations. No love style is a disorder, and this test does not assess mental health.

How accurate is it?

The LAS-SF has good psychometric properties, with Cronbach alpha values ranging from approximately 0.68 to 0.86 across subscales in published research. Test-retest reliability over several weeks is moderate to good. Any self-report is limited by how honestly you answer and by which relationship you have in mind while completing it. Results are best read as a reflective snapshot rather than a fixed trait score.

What is the difference between love styles and love languages?

Love styles describe your overall orientation toward love in a relationship: how you approach commitment, passion, and vulnerability. Love languages, popularized by Gary Chapman, describe how you prefer to give and receive affection. Love styles have decades of academic research behind them; love languages are a popular framework without the same empirical base. Both can be useful for self-reflection and conversation with a partner.

Is my data stored anywhere?

No. OmConscious has a strong commitment to user privacy and does not collect any personal data. All scoring happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your answers are never transmitted to any server, stored in a database, or shared with any third party. No account or login is required, and results are available instantly. When you close the tab, your answers are gone.