Establishing the distinctiveness of relationship variables using the Big Five and self-esteem

Relationship research has identified several key variables that predict the types of relationships individuals seek, the ways they engage partners, and how they see themselves. However, to date, little research has examined a novel variable, emophilia. Emophilia is defined as individual variation that exists with respect to how fast and frequently and individual falls in love. It is critical to establish emophilia as a unique construct in the field of relationship research. The present study explored the associations between various relationship variables and individual difference measures such as the Big Five and self-esteem. The results indicated that each variable had a different pattern of correlations with the Big Five and self-esteem, and that none of the relationship variables were redundant with each other. In particular, emophilia was distinct from both anxious attachment and sociosexuality indicating that it may predict unique variance in relationship research.