Current methodological approaches for studying the association between love and psychological well-being in daily life

Abstract

We review the literature linking the experience of love in daily life to psychological well-being, with a particular emphasis on the methodologies used to investigate this relationship. Experience sampling methodology has emerged as a key ecologically valid approach that captures real-time experiences within individuals’ natural environments. Experience sampling yields rich intensive longitudinal data, which, when analyzed using dynamic models, offers promising avenues for exploring love as a momentary, fluctuating emotional experience and its connection to well-being. We provide a concise demonstration of how to analyze daily-life data on love and well-being with such dynamical models, with tutorial files made available online on the Open Science Framework.

Citation

Williams, L., Heshmati, S., Vandekerckhove, J., & Oravecz, Z. (2025). Current methodological approaches for studying the association between love and psychological well-being in daily life. The International Handbook of Love.

Bibtex

@incollection{williams_etal:2025:methodological,
    title   = {{C}urrent methodological approaches for studying the association between love and psychological well-being in daily life},
    author  = {Williams, Lindy and Heshmati, Saeideh and Vandekerckhove, Joachim and Oravecz, Zita},
    year    = {2025},
    journal = {The International Handbook of Love},
    doi     = {10.1007/978-3-031-76665-7_75-1}
}