I posted this on TBP, but I was wondering what redpillers would have to say about this research, so here's a repost:

I learned about this a long time ago, but I never bothered to write it up because effortposts require hardcore procrastination or drunkenness on my part. Anyway, there's actually a non-controversial model of love styles that is used in individual difference research, and TRP 'game' fits very well into one of them. For easy reading about this particular model of love styles, check out Wikipedia. The love styles are essentially the different ways in which people conduct themselves in relationships. There are healthy love styles and unhealthy ones. Here are the wiki descriptions of all of them:

  • Eros – is a passionate physical and emotional love of wanting to satisfy, create sexual contentment, security and aesthetic enjoyment for each other, it also includes creating sexual security for the other by striving to forsake options of sharing one's intimate and sexual self with outsiders.

  • Ludus – This style is used by those who see love as a game and want to "win" as many partners as possible. The focus is on having fun in the moment and therefore relationships of this sort tend to be very short.

  • Storge – This style of love grows slowly out of friendship and is based more on similar interests and a commitment to one another rather than on passion.

  • Pragma – This love style is very practical and realistic. People who prefer this style approach their relationship in a "business-like" fashion and look for partners with whom they can share common goals.

  • Agape – In this style of love, the individual is willing to sacrifice anything for their partner. It is based on an unbreakable commitment and an unconditional, selfless love

Any of these sound familiar? Here's a hint: take a look at 'ludus'. Ludus is essentially the love style in which somebody applies manipulation tactics, dislikes monogamy and long-term relationships, and dislikes emotional intimacy with their partner. It is even referred to as 'game-playing love', as 'ludus' is the Greek word for game. Ludus, Pragma, and Mania are considered unhealthy forms of love. Because Ludus fits redpill-type relationships perfectly (I mean c'mon, the word for the love style is even 'game'), let's see some research into the types of people who tend towards this love style, and what the relationship outcomes are:

>The Ludus lover, on the other hand, pays little attention to private, nonvisible aspects of the self and tends to mask his/her feelings, preferring to maintain less close and relatively nonexclusive relationships.

>Results replicated earlier research, finding that men who had been sexually coercive endorsed a manipulative, game-playing orientation toward intimate relationships to a greater extent than both other groups. Although sexually coercive men did not differ from the other two groups in their romantic attachment styles, they did report less happiness, friendship, and trust in their romantic relationships. Results suggest that avoidance does not characterize sexually coercive men, but rather manipulation and deception appear to form the link between love styles and sexual coercion.

>We expected certain of the love styles and several additional variables to be related to relationship satisfaction. Indeed, Eros was related to satisfaction, with Agape less so. Ludus (game-playing love) and Instrumentality (manipulative sexuality) were negatively related to satisfaction. Investment was related to satisfaction for women. This result is consistent with Rusbult's (1983) general findings of the importance of investment in a relationship and with Berg and McQuinn's (1986) discovery that early in successful relationships, women were perceived to contribute more. Commitment was quite strongly related to satisfaction, underlining its significance in close relationships ( Lund, 1985). One interesting theme in these correlations is that in order to be satisfied with a relationship, it may be fully as important not to be game-playing or manipulative as it is to be passionate, disclosing, and committed.

>Overall, these findings are consistent with previous research while extending our knowledge about the love styles. We were generally pleased with the results for the love styles, with Eros and Ludus having the strongest relations with satisfaction (positive for Eros, negative for Ludus). We have never expected love to be the only variable contributing to relationship satisfaction—only to be an important one.

>Also consistent with predictions, individuals high in Ludus reported greater costs and lower rewards and satisfaction.

>Couples were significantly similar in all love styles except Pragma and Mania

(aka manipulative, game-playing people attract other manipulative, game-playing people. the cause of AWALT?)

>For men, Ludus was negatively related to Intimacy, Care, Satisfaction, and Passion.

>For both men and women, Ludus is associated with the rejection of Intimacy (confiding and understanding).

>Does loving oneself lead to loving others? The answer is not the simple “yes” often noted in popular discourse. In fact, the opposite is often the case. Self-love as operationalized as narcissism is linked to game playing and selfishness in romantic relationships. Narcissists look to relationships as a source of power or control— not as an arena for experiencing and expressing commitment. Narcissism does not lead to loving others in any interpersonally positive sense of the phrase

>Implications: Why Do Individuals Date Narcissists? Research on narcissism and romantic relationships raises several questions. One question that readily springs to mind involves how narcissists get potential dating partners to become attracted to them. If narcissists are, by their own accounts, game playing and selfish, why would anyone want to become involved with them? There are several possible answers to this question. Narcissists may be confident, exciting, or charming at first, but their likability may fade over time as their grandiosity becomes apparent (Paulhus, 1998) or fails to diminish (cf. Tice, Butler, Muraven, & Stillwell, 1995). This statement is consistent with the primary findings of the present research that narcissists are game playing in their relationships. It is also consistent with the findings of the narratives (Study 4), in which individuals reported that their perceptions of their narcissistic partners changed throughout the relationship. It may be that narcissists self-present during early relationship interactions and that it takes some time for their partners to see past the presentation. Narcissists may also select or target certain individuals to date. Individuals with low selfopinions, for example, may be easy prey for narcissists. In contrast, narcissists may date other narcissists.

>Dutifulness was positively related to Agape and negatively related to Ludus and Mania. Orderliness was positively related to Pragma. Cautiousness was negatively related to Ludus and Mania, while self-efficacy was negatively related to Ludus, and positively related to Eros and Mania.

> those anxious in their relationships were high on Mania, Ludus, and Pragma (see also Collins & Read,1990), and low on Eros.

>Instead, Ludus was significantly related to low agreeableness and lowconscientiousness.

>In addition, sympathy was negatively related to Ludus, trust correlated with Storge, and altruism correlated with Eros.

>Indeed, the links between [Neuroticism] and Mania and [Neuroticism] and Ludus (see Table 2) are fully mediated by an anxious attachment style.

>[Extraversion] was not predictive of Ludus

In the interest of not running out of room, I'll stop here. From this, we can conclude that people who use 'game' are narcissistic, insecure, non-conscientious, sexually coercive, neurotic, emotionally-distant, unsympathetic people who report lower levels of relationship satisfaction and success. On the other hand, love styles with high levels of self-sacrifice, emotional intimacy, and self-disclosure were correlated with greater levels of satisfaction, healthier personality traits, and more successful relationships.

Given these findings, what does TRP have to say about using 'game' for relationships? For those looking for long-term and satisfying relationships, it seems that the redpill style of love really shoots them in the foot and causes them to be dissatisfied in their relationships.