ScanMyLove Analysis Methodology

Technical document for mental health professionals

Table of contents

1. [Introduction and epistemological framework](#1-introduction-and-epistemological-framework)

2. [Raw data analyzed (Inputs)](#2-raw-data-analyzed-inputs)

3. [The 14 clinical models used (Processing)](#3-the-14-clinical-models-used-processing)

4. [Synthesis and insight generation (Outputs)](#4-synthesis-and-insight-generation-outputs)

5. [Methodological limitations](#5-methodological-limitations)

6. [Scientific references](#6-scientific-references)

1. Introduction and epistemological framework

ScanMyLove is a computational analysis platform for written conversations (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, emails, screenshots) that applies 14 theoretical frameworks drawn from clinical psychology, social psychology and communication sciences to produce a relational map from textual exchanges.

The tool positions itself explicitly as a reflection-aid instrument and not as a diagnostic tool. It is a substitute neither for a clinical consultation nor for a standardized psychometric assessment. Its goal is to provide quantitative and qualitative benchmarks that help the user (and, where applicable, their therapist) better understand the relational dynamics at work in their exchanges.

Analysis pipeline architecture

The analysis process breaks down into three phases:

1. Extraction and metrology (client side): parsing of conversations, computation of 25+ descriptive statistical metrics, detection of emotional-breakdown events.

2. Multi-model analysis (server side): parallel processing by language models applying the 14 clinical grids to the anonymized corpus.

3. Synthesis and reporting: aggregation of scores, production of composite dimensions, generation of the report with recommendations.

2. Raw data analyzed (Inputs)

2.1 Accepted data sources

Conversations are pre-processed for cross-file deduplication and encoding detection (UTF-8, UTF-16, Latin-1).

2.2 Descriptive metrics per participant

Volume and length

Linguistic and emotional richness

Temporality and responsiveness

Dynamics indicators

2.3 Detection of emotional-breakdown events

The breakpoint engine detects 5 types of events through a longitudinal analysis of the corpus.

Affective ratio (7-day sliding window)

The computation relies on two dictionaries of linguistic markers:

• Positive markers: "I love you", "kisses", "my love", "I miss you", heart and affection emojis
• Negative markers: "it's over", "fed up", "sick of it", "annoyed", anger emojis

affective_ratio = positive_markers / (positive_markers + negative_markers + 1)

The ratio ranges between 0 (entirely negative) and 1 (entirely positive). Smoothing over 7 days reduces the noise from daily fluctuations.

Types of events detected

Events are deduplicated within a 3-day window to avoid redundancy.

3. The 14 clinical models used (Processing)

Processing architecture

The clinical analysis is performed by a parallel processing pipeline organized into groups. Each group independently queries a language model with a specific prompt encoding a structured assessment grid and a JSON output schema.

The conversational corpus is first anonymized (names replaced by "Person A" / "Person B"; phone numbers, emails, addresses and banking details redacted) and truncated according to a 160,000-character budget strategically allocated:

• 50% for the most recent messages (end of the corpus)
• 20% for the oldest messages (beginning)
• 30% for the middle (spiral selection)

This allocation ensures the model has access to the initial context, the intermediate evolution and the current state of the relationship.

Model 1: Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

• Intimacy: confidences, shared vulnerability, mutual emotional support, use of "we"
• Passion: expressions of desire, physical compliments, emotional intensity, eagerness to reunite
• Commitment: shared plans, references to a shared future, use of definitive terms ("always", "for life")

Model 2: The 5 Love Languages (Chapman)

• Words of affirmation: compliments, encouragement, endearing words
• Acts of service: offers of help, concrete actions for the other
• Receiving gifts: mentions of presents, surprises, material tokens
• Quality time: planning time together, exclusive attention
• Physical touch: references to bodily contact, hugs, closeness

Model 3: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Gottman)

• Criticism: attacks on the other's character (vs. a specific complaint)
• Contempt: sarcasm, mockery, verbal eye-rolling, superiority
• Defensiveness: denial of responsibility, counter-attack, victimhood
• Stonewalling: emotional withdrawal, refusal to communicate, punishing silence

Model 4: Power dynamics (Pursuer / Distancer)

• Pursuer score (0-100): initiating contact, message urgency, demands for a reply, expressions of anxiety in the face of silence
• Distancer score (0-100): response delays, short messages, topic changes, emotional avoidance

Model 5: Attachment styles (Bowlby, Ainsworth, Bartholomew)

• Secure: ability to express needs without anxiety, adequate response to the other's needs, autonomy/connection balance
• Anxious: reassurance-seeking, hypervigilance to rejection signals, need for constant validation, disproportionate reactions to silence
• Avoidant: valuing independence, discomfort with intimacy, factual messages, avoidance of emotional topics
• Disorganized: contradictory behaviors (alternating approach/avoidance), emotional inconsistency, unpredictable reactions

Model 6: Cognitive distortions (Beck)

Model 7: Young's Early Maladaptive Schemas (Premium)

• Abandonment / instability
• Mistrust / abuse
• Emotional deprivation
• Defectiveness / shame
• Social isolation

• Dependence / incompetence
• Vulnerability to harm
• Enmeshment / undeveloped self
• Failure

• Entitlement / grandiosity
• Insufficient self-control

• Subjugation
• Self-sacrifice
• Approval-seeking

• Negativity / pessimism
• Emotional inhibition
• Unrelenting standards / hypercriticalness
• Punitiveness

Model 8: Nonviolent Communication (Premium)

• Observation capacity (vs. evaluation/judgment)
• Expression of feelings (vs. interpretations)
• Formulation of needs (explicit vs. implicit)
• Formulation of requests (concrete vs. demands)

Model 9: DISC profile (Premium)

• Dominance (D): direct, concise, results-oriented communication
• Influence (I): expressive, enthusiastic, relational communication
• Steadiness (S): patient, reliable, attentive communication
• Conscientiousness (C): analytical, precise, factual communication

Model 10: Karpman's Drama Triangle (Premium)

• Persecutor: blame, control, criticism, domination
• Victim: complaint, helplessness, abdication of responsibility
• Rescuer: overprotection, solving the other's problems, self-sacrifice

Model 11: The Johari Window (Premium)

• Open area: what is known to oneself and to the other (sharing, transparency)
• Blind area: what the other perceives but the subject is unaware of (unconscious patterns)
• Hidden area: what the subject keeps to themselves (secrets, restraint)
• Unknown area: what escapes both (unexplored potential)

Model 12: Schutz's FIRO (Premium)

Model 13: Polyvagal Theory (Premium)

• Ventral vagal: safety, connection, calm, social engagement (open communication, humor, empathy)
• Sympathetic: fight/flight mode, defensiveness, irritability, hyperreactivity (aggressive messages, urgency, anxiety)
• Dorsal vagal: freeze mode, withdrawal, disconnection (monosyllabic messages, long silences, apathy)

Model 14: Violence detection (Premium)

This model breaks down into two complementary sub-models, activated conditionally.

14a. Walker's Cycle of Violence

1. Tension phase: stress build-up, growing irritability

2. Explosion phase: acting out (verbal in the textual context)

3. Reconciliation phase: apologies, promises of change

4. Honeymoon phase: return to affection, idealization

14b. Power and Control Wheel (Duluth)

• Intimidation
• Isolation
• Minimizing / denial / blame
• Using children
• Male/female privilege
• Economic control
• Threats
• Emotional abuse

4. Synthesis and insight generation (Outputs)

4.1 Composite dimensions

The individual scores of the 14 models are aggregated into composite dimensions that offer a synthetic view of the relationship.

4.2 Global score and levels

The global score is computed as the arithmetic mean of all dimensions.

4.3 Relational prognosis

The prognosis is generated from all indicators and includes:

• A score from 0 to 100
• A qualitative label: Positive, Mixed, Concerning or Critical
• 3 to 5 identified protective factors (the couple's strengths)
• 3 to 5 identified risk factors (alerts)

4.4 Therapeutic action plan (Premium)

The Premium report includes an action plan structured in 3 phases, each containing 2 to 3 concrete exercises with title, description and recommended frequency.

5. Methodological limitations

5.1 What the analysis CANNOT do

1. Make a clinical diagnosis. ScanMyLove is not a diagnostic tool in the sense of the DSM-5 or ICD-11. It cannot diagnose a personality disorder, depression, an anxiety disorder or any other pathology.

2. Substitute for a mental health professional. Computational text analysis does not replace clinical observation, face-to-face interviews, standardized psychometric tests and the clinician's expertise.

3. Analyze non-verbal communication. Paralanguage (tone, pace, volume), facial expressions, body language and the physical context of the exchanges inherently escape textual analysis.

4. Assess the sincerity of the discourse. The analysis concerns what is written, not what is thought. A participant may use affectionate language out of manipulation or social convention.

5. Capture off-text exchanges. Face-to-face conversations, phone calls and non-digital interactions are not taken into account. The analysis concerns a potentially unrepresentative sample of the couple's total communication.

5.2 Identified biases

5.3 Ethical positioning

• The tool makes no moral judgment about the participants.
• Results are presented as working hypotheses, not certainties.
• The violence-detection system automatically displays emergency numbers (in France: 3114, 3919, 114).
• No data is retained after the analysis: zero sign-up, zero storage, full GDPR compliance.
• Conversations are never re-read, shared or used for training models.

6. Scientific references

Attachment theory

• Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment Styles Among Young Adults: A Test of a Four-Category Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 226-244.
• Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 2: Separation. Basic Books.
• Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511-524.

Couple research (Gottman)

• Gottman, J. M. (1994). What Predicts Divorce? The Relationship Between Marital Processes and Marital Outcomes. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (1999). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Three Rivers Press.
• Gottman, J. M., Coan, J., Carrere, S., & Swanson, C. (1998). Predicting Marital Happiness and Stability from Newlywed Interactions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(1), 5-22.

Triangular theory of love

• Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A Triangular Theory of Love. Psychological Review, 93(2), 119-135.
• Sternberg, R. J. (1997). Construct Validation of a Triangular Love Scale. European Journal of Social Psychology, 27(3), 313-335.

Love languages

• Chapman, G. (1992). The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. Northfield Publishing.

Schema therapy

• Young, J. E. (1990). Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders: A Schema-Focused Approach. Professional Resource Press.
• Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide. Guilford Press.

Cognitive therapy and distortions

• Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. International Universities Press.
• Beck, A. T. (1988). Love Is Never Enough: How Couples Can Overcome Misunderstandings. Harper & Row.
• Burns, D. D. (1980). Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. William Morrow.
• Epstein, N. B., & Baucom, D. H. (2002). Enhanced Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Couples. American Psychological Association.

Nonviolent Communication

• Rosenberg, M. B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life (2nd ed.). PuddleDancer Press.

DISC model

• Marston, W. M. (1928). Emotions of Normal People. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.

Transactional analysis and Karpman's triangle

• Berne, E. (1964). Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. Grove Press.
• Karpman, S. B. (1968). Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis. Transactional Analysis Bulletin, 7(26), 39-43.

Johari Window

• Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1955). The Johari Window: A Graphic Model of Interpersonal Awareness. Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development, UCLA.
• Luft, J. (1969). Of Human Interaction. National Press Books.

FIRO

• Schutz, W. (1958). FIRO: A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behavior. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
• Schutz, W. (1992). Beyond FIRO-B: Three New Theory-Derived Measures. Psychological Reports, 70(3), 915-937.

Polyvagal theory

• Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton.
• Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. W. W. Norton.

Domestic violence

• Walker, L. E. (1979). The Battered Woman. Harper & Row.
• Walker, L. E. (2009). The Battered Woman Syndrome (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing.
• Pence, E., & Paymar, M. (1993). Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model. Springer Publishing.

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy

• Johnson, S. M. (2004). The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection (2nd ed.). Brunner-Routledge.
• Johnson, S. M. (2008). Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love. Little, Brown and Company.

Pursuer-distancer dynamics

• Fogarty, T. F. (1976). Marital crisis. In P. J. Guerin (Ed.), Family Therapy: Theory and Practice. Gardner Press.

Appendix: Summary of models and analysis levels