Una aproximación al significado del amor en una población infantil en Lima, Perú

The aim of the present study was to approach the meaning of love, through its written expression, in a sample of boys and girls from Metropolitan Lima, Peru, and to examine its differences according to sex and age. A total of 289 children participated in the study, divided into two samples: an exploratory sample (n = 50) and a confirmatory sample (n = 239). The study followed a mixed methodology, using thematic analysis as a qualitative technique to identify codes underlying the children’s definition of love, and hierarchical cluster analysis as a quantitative technique to generate a dendrogram. The results revealed the presence of six central categories: relationship with significant others, romanticism and self-love, characteristic relationship between adults, positive state, affectivity, and unconditional support. From this, it is concluded that the concept of love during childhood integrates three categories of the interpretative scheme of emotions: contextual or elicitor, subjective experience, and expressive/motivational tendency.