To address this question, I created difference scores by subtracting their experience score from their concept score on each of the Love Test Scales:

• Total Concept Score - Total Experience Score
• Passion Concept Scale Score - Passion Experience Scale Score
• Intimacy Concept Scale Score - Intimacy Experience Scale Score
• Commitment Concept Scale Score - Commitment Experience Scale Score

Thus, for each difference score:

• People who scored higher on the experience version than on the concept version would have negative difference scores (they are getting more love than they expect).
• People who scored higher about the same on the experience version as on the concept version would have difference scores near zero (They are getting about what they expect from Love).
• People who scored lower on the experience version than on the concept version would have positive difference scores(they are getting less love than they expect).

Yes! In general, there are negative correlations between difference scores on The Love Test scales and the self report measures of the same constructs (see table below). The higher people score on the self report measures, the more likely they are to have smaller differences between what they think love should be and what they are experiencing. Again, we see the same pattern of correlations with "How much do you like your partner?" showing the strongest correlations with the intimacy scale difference scores; "How much do you lust for your partner?" showing the strongest correlations with the Passion Scale difference Score; and "How likely is it that you will be together in 5 years?" showing the strongest correlations with the Commitment Scale difference score. "How much do you Love your partner?" was correlated most strongly with differences in Commitment (r=-.37), then differences in Intimacy (r=-.32) and then with differences in Passion (r=-.3).

Correlations between Differences in Concept and Experience Scores and Scores The Self Report Items. (N=3797)
Self Report Item	Difference Scores (Concept Version Score - Experience Version Score)
	TOTAL SCORE	PASSION	INTIMACY	COMITTMENT
How much do you love your partner? (0 none - 10 a lot!)	-.35	-.30	-.32	-.37
How much do you like your partner? (0 none - 10 a lot!)	-.53	-.49	-.54	-.41
How much do you lust after your partner? (0 none - 10 a lot!)	-.32	-.36	-.29	-.23
How likely is it that you and your partner will still be together in 5 years? (1 not likely - 5 totally likely)	-.43	-.29	-.44	-.47
How satisfied are you with your current relationship? (1 not satisfied - 5 totally satisfied)	-.61	-.49	-.62	-.58

Another way to look at this is to collapse the categories on the self report measures and look at the scale means for each group. For the a) How much do you like your partner?, b) How much do you lust for your partner?, and c) How much do you love your partner? self report items, the following groups were formed:

• People who chose 0 (none) thru 4 on the scale of the original question were put into the "low" group.
• People who chose 5 thru 7 on the scale of the original question were put into the "medium" group.
• People who chose 8 thru 10 (a lot!) on the scale of the original question were put into the "high" group.

For the item: How likely is it that you will still be together in 5 years?:

• People who chose "not likely" or "somewhat likely" were put together into a group;
• People who chose "moderately likely" were put together into a group; and
• People who chose "Very likely" or "totally likely" were put together into a group.

For the item: How satisfied are you with your relationship?:

• People who chose "not satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" were put together into a group;
• People who chose "moderately satisfied" were put together into a group; and
• People who chose "Very satisfied" or "totally satisfied" were put together into a group.

In general, the lower people rated their relationship in terms of liking, lusting after, and the likelihood of being together in 5 years, the larger was the difference between what they think love should be and what they are currently experiencing (see table below). This effect was especially pronounced for the Intimacy Scale. For the Passion and Commitment scales people who self rated their relationships in the high range of the scale scored slightly higher on the experience version of The Love Test then they did on the concept version of The Love Test indicating that one average, this group is getting more love than they expect. It's also interesting to note that there is more variability in the difference scores for people who scored on the lower end of the self report items.

Mean Differences between Concept and Experience Scores and Scores The Self Report Items.
How much do you like your partner? (0 none - 10 a lot!)	Intimacy (Concept - Experience)
	Mean	SD	N
low (0-4)	48.9	20.5	131
medium (5-7)	28.4	19.1	561
high (8-10)	8.2	13.7	5120
How much do you lust after your partner? (0 none - 10 a lot!)	Passion (Concept - Experience)
	Mean	SD	N
low (0-4)	19.6	24.1	442
medium (5-7)	5.0	16.1	1137
high (8-10)	-1.1	12.8	4233
How likely is it that you and your partner will still be together in 5 years? (1 not likely - 5 totally likely)	Commitment (Concept - Experience)
	Mean	SD	N
Not or somewhat likely	16.9	20.9	1776
Moderately likely	7.2	15.0	1313
Very or totally likely	-1.7	11.3	2723

This same effect held for groups formed by the question "How much do you love your partner?" (see table below). Those people who said they love their partner more had smaller discrepancies between what they think love should be and what they are currently experiencing than did those whose self reports of love for their partner were on the low end of the scale. It's also interesting to note that there is more variability in the difference scores for people who scored on the lower end of the self report items.

Scale Means for Differences between Concept and Experience Scores for the Groups Defined by the Self Report Item "How much do you love your partner?".
How much do you love your partner?	Total Score			Passion			Intimacy			Commitment
	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N
low (0-4)	21.5	20.8	263	14.0	23.1	263	25.3	21.8	263	23.9	22.7	263
medium (5-7)	15.2	17.2	858	9.4	19.0	858	19.2	18.5	858	15.1	19.3	858
high (8-10)	4.7	13.5	4691	-0.4	13.7	4691	8.7	14.9	4691	3.1	15.4	4691

This same effect held for groups formed by the question "How satisfied are you with your relationship?" (See table below). People who said they were more satisfied with their relationship had smaller discrepancies between what they think love should be and what they are currently experiencing than did those whose self reports of love for their partner were on the low end of the scale. It's also interesting to note that there is more variability in the difference scores for people who scored on the lower end of the self report items.

Concept Scale Means for the Groups Defined by How Satisfied They Say They Are With Their Current Relationship
How satisfied are you with your current relationship?	Total Score			Passion			Intimacy			Commitment
	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N
Not or Somewhat	21.0	18.1	263	13.3	20.0	263	26.7	20.0	263	21.1	20.7	263
Moderately	9.5	12.3	858	4.1	14.1	858	13.5	13.0	858	8.7	14.9	858
Very or Totally	-0.8	7.8	4691	-4.8	9.4	4691	2.6	8.0	4691	-2.6	9.9	4691

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