Psychometric Properties and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Love Myths Scale in a Comparative Sample by Gender and Across Generational Groups

Introduction Romantic love is linked to the traditional roles and to the stereotypes that depend on the place, time and sex/gender of the person. The aim was to assess the Sevillian population’s beliefs in the romantic love myths. To verify the reliability and factor structure of the Love Myths Scale. Methods An instrumental, descriptive and cross-sectional survey design. Non-probabilistic sampling stratified by gender. Inclusion criteria: being ≥ 18 years old, Spanish nationality and lacking previous training on gender. Exclusion: language and/or cognitive impairment and refusal to participate. A total of 562 individuals answered to the Love Myths Scale. Descriptive and inferential analysis of the variables based on gender and age with the chi-square test. Reliability of the scale with Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results The sample consisted mostly of women, aged from 18 to 63 years old, average socioeconomic level, complete High School, active workers and with partners. There are statistically significant differences in the beliefs regarding the love myths based on gender (eternal passion, omnipotence, partner, jealousy and marriage) and on age (soul mate, marriage, omnipotence and ambivalence). No measurement invariance for the sex variable and generational comparison. Conclusions The study contributes a current and wide perspective of the Sevillian population about the beliefs in the love myths. It shows the need to look for new tools to deal with the changes produced at generational level and the differences by sex. Policy Implications Educational and political organizations alike are encouraged to continue investigating factors that may be contributing to a higher incidence of gender violence, specially in adolescent and young population. The implementation of programs, guides and strategies to address risk factors is key tool to mitigate this social problem.