The teenage love: Do Spanish early-middleadolescents believe in the romantic love?

espanolEl amor adolescente: ?Creen los adolescentes espanoles en el amor romantico?. Las creencias romanticas estan asociadas al apego ansioso, la aceptacion de las relaciones abusivas y la justificacion de la conducta violenta. La adolescencia es una etapa crucial para la consolidacion de la identidad. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar los mitos del amor romantico y examinar las diferencias de genero en 448 adolescentes espanoles tempranos-medios (M = 12,92; DT = 0,85) que cursaban primer y segundo ano de Educacion Secundaria Obligatoria. Se administro la Escala de mitos, falacias y conceptos erroneos sobre el amor romantico de Luzon et al. (2011) en las aulas. Los resultados mostraron que, del total de 18 mitos de amor romantico evaluados, el numero promedio en el que los adolescentes dijeron creer fue de 9,03 (DT = 3,13). Las puntuaciones mas altas se obtuvieron en los factores denominados “El amor implica posesion y exclusividad” y “El verdadero amor esta predestinado”. El mito de la media naranja, el mito de los celos y la idea de que el amor entre parejas es la razon fundamental de la existencia fueron las creencias mas frecuentes. Se encontraron diferencias de genero estadisticamente significativas. Los adolescentes varones informaron que creian en un mayor numero de mitos de amor romantico y obtuvieron los porcentajes mas altos en la mayoria de mitos. Los resultados muestran que los prejuicios y falacias relacionados con el amor romantico ya se han formado en la adolescencia temprana y eso aparece de manera diferencial segun el genero. Estos hallazgos pueden ser utiles en la planificacion y diseno de programas preventivos. EnglishRomantic beliefs are associated to attachment anxiety, acceptability of abusive relationships and justification of violent behavior. Adolescence is a crucial stage for the consolidation of identity. The aim of this study is to analyze the myths of romantic love and examine gender differences among 448 Spanish early-middle adolescents (M = 12.92; SD = 0.85) that were attending the first and second year of the Spanish secondary education. The Myths, Fallacies and Misconceptions about Romantic Love Scale by Luzon et al. (2011) was administered in the classrooms during tutoring hours and was supervised by a group of psychologists. Results showed that out of the total of 18 myths of romantic love in the evaluation, the average number that the adolescents said they believed in was 9.03 (SD = 3.13). The highest scores were obtained in factors named “Love implies possession and exclusivity” and “True love is predestined”. The better-half myth, the myth of jealousy and the idea of love between couples is the fundamental reason behind the existence were the most frequent beliefs. Statistically significant gender differences were found. Adolescent males reported that they believed in a higher number of myths of romantic love and obtained the highest percentages in most beliefs in myths. Findings show shows that biases and fallacies related to romantic love have already been formed in early adolescence and that appears differentially according to gender. These results can be useful in the planning and design of preventive programs.