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Limerence

Tennov (1979) coined the term "limerence" to describe the experience of romantic obsession or infatuation. Limerence is characterized by intrusive thinking about the "love object" (LO), mood swings related to the perceived reciprocation of feelings from the LO, and acute sensitivity to behaviors of the LO. Subsequent research has linked limerence to factors like low self-esteem, attachment anxiety, perfectionism, and neuroticism. While limerence is usually studied in relationships, it could also potentially be relevant to understanding behaviors in organizational and workplace contexts. Further validated measures and research are needed to fully understand and apply the concept.

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Ambarish Prasanna
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422 views9 pages

Limerence

Tennov (1979) coined the term "limerence" to describe the experience of romantic obsession or infatuation. Limerence is characterized by intrusive thinking about the "love object" (LO), mood swings related to the perceived reciprocation of feelings from the LO, and acute sensitivity to behaviors of the LO. Subsequent research has linked limerence to factors like low self-esteem, attachment anxiety, perfectionism, and neuroticism. While limerence is usually studied in relationships, it could also potentially be relevant to understanding behaviors in organizational and workplace contexts. Further validated measures and research are needed to fully understand and apply the concept.

Uploaded by

Ambarish Prasanna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

• Tennov (1979)
• research on the experience of love in the 1960s.
• Information obtained from 800 surveys, personal diaries, and over 300
interviews
• discovered a mindset some people fall under when they are romantically
interested in someone. This mindset was termed limerence
• characterized by cognitive obsession with the love object.
• The limerent becomes obsessed with establishing a romantic bond with LO
in the form of (a) a romantic relationship and (b) reciprocal romantic
desire. Aspects of limerence include the following:
Related Aspects
• Limerence can begin with a trivial gesture from LO, such as a smile, that is interpreted as hidden
affection.
• An intense yearning to establish a romantic bond with LO that supersedes other concerns.
• Intrusive cognitive preoccupation with LO that includes anticipating future interactions with LO, replaying
past interactions with LO, either for pleasure or in search for signs of LO’s romantic desire, and fantasies of LO
reciprocating romantic desire.
• Self-consciousness in the presence of LO that can range from general shyness to extreme apprehension, and an
inordinate fear of being rejected as a relationship partner by LO.
• Acute sensitivity to LO’s behaviors, including interpreting LO’s behaviors as diagnostic of LO’s level of
romantic desire.
• Mood swings that are contingent on perceived likelihood that LO reciprocates or will reciprocate romantic
desire.
• Awareness of being in an altered state of mind, and an inability to exit the limerent state or become limerent
towards another LO.
• Downplaying of LO’s negative attributes
In Relation with Organizations and Work Place

• Wine and Dine a Common Strategy


• Flattery and Manipulation
• individuals with Sensitive and classified Information may be targeted

* Supporting ROL required.


Application
• Can help in recruitment process for certain roles and in certain
industries that involve a lot of interpersonal interactions
• Assigning Job Roles and Projects
Review of Literature
• Wolf (2017)
Created and assessed the reliability and validity of a new measure of
Limerence
Low self-esteem, attachment anxiety, low self-concept clarity, need to
belong, validation-seeking goal orientation, social phobia, social
interaction anxiety, and mind-wandering were found to be associated
with limerence
The association between low self-esteem and limerence was found to
be mediated mostly through social phobia and validation-seeking goal
orientation
• Feeney & Noller, 1990
a study linking limerence to anxious attachment
Relationship exists (lack of full access)
Flett, Hewitt, Shapiro, & Rayman (2001)-
• limerence with perfectionism
indicated that individuals with high levels of self-oriented perfectionism and
other-oriented perfectionism have stronger relationship beliefs in the areas of
communication, trust, and support
 suggests that perfectionists have high relationship standards in these
particular areas.
• Banker (2010)
hypothesized that an association exists between socially prescribed
perfectionism and limerence, specifically in intimate relationships.
A theoretical comparison supported the hypothesis, concluding that
common characteristics of both concepts include obsessive and intrusive
preoccupations, low self-esteem, fear of negative evaluation, failure and
rejection, emotional dependence on others, poor self-control, self-
conscious anxiety, hopelessness, depression and suicidality
Both concepts were also correlated with neurotic tendencies, an external
locus of control and anxious/ambivalent attachments
• Subscale under Love Attitudes Scale by Hendrick, C. & Hendrick, S.
(1986)
• Subscale under Romantic Love Scale Rubin, Z (1970)
• No scale or relevant research seems to exist in organizational context
References

• Banker, R. M. (n.d.). Socially prescribed perfectionism and limerence in interpersonal


relationships. Retrieved from https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/126/
• Feeney, J. A., & Noller, P. (1990). Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic
relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,58(2), 281-291. doi:10.1037//0022-
3514.58.2.281
• Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Shapiro, B., & Rayman, J. (n.d.). Perfectionism, beliefs, and
adjustment in dating relationships. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-001-1013-4
• Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. (1986). A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology,50(2), 392-402. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.50.2.392
• Rubin, Z. (1970). Measurement of romantic love. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology,16(2), 265-273. doi:10.1037/h0029841
• Wolf, R. N. (2017, January). Investigating Limerence: Predictors of Limerence, Measure
Validation, and Goal Progress. Retrieved from https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/20272

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