Contemporary Love Concepts in South Africa

How love is understood and lived is influenced by diverse factors such as ethnic belonging, culture, language, gender, generational belonging, and age. The chapter focuses on love from South African perspectives and explores specifically how love is defined and experienced, how it connects to value concepts, rituals, and symbols, and when and whether it leads to marriage. Perspectives of men and women from African, Indian, and White South African backgrounds are explored. The chapter presents empirical findings from a qualitative research study within the hermeneutic-interpretative paradigm. Purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used, and qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed through content analysis. Ethical considerations were adhered to, and quality criteria were applied. Findings on love are presented and discussed. They show that participants construct love by combining African, Indian, and Western concepts of love. Conclusions and recommendations for future research and practice are given.