Compassionate love for a romantic partner among Brazilian college students

Abstract

Compassionate love (CL) is a recent subject of close relationships. CL is focused on enlarging beneficence to another. The present study approaches the test of the psychometric characteristics of the shortened form of the Compassionate Love Scale for a partner (CLS-P-SF) for Brazilian college students and its relationships with background and well-being variables. The sample included 217 young adults, 46.1% women and 53.9% men. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the single latent factor of the CLS-P-SF is good and has satisfactory reliability. Subsequent analysis indicated that religious involvement and love status impacted the CLS-P-SF scores. CLS-P-SF scores were significantly related to the measurement of eros and agape love styles, commitment, life satisfaction, love satisfaction, and romantic loneliness. Satisfaction with love life mediated the relationship of CL for a partner and romantic loneliness. Current findings give an insight into the mechanism underlying the relation of CL with romantic loneliness.