Love is a disease
In her famous book Love and Falling in Love, American psychologist Dorothy Tennov describes passionate love as a blind, biological conditioned mechanism. He provided our ancestors with the ability to engage in reproduction with enthusiasm and all the related issues, as well as even raise common children for some time. Tennov describes this type of love as a painful condition, and not as full-fledged love and highlights the following symptoms of this disease:
1) The presence of obsessive thoughts about the object of love.
2) The painful need for the object of adoration to experience mutual feelings.
3) Euphoria from reciprocity.
4) Extreme concentration on the object, up to ignoring urgent needs.
5) Strong sex drive.
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Love chemistry
In most studies on romantic love, scientists were primarily interested in the physiological side of the issue. That is, what biochemical processes accompany romantic feelings.
As a result of the research carried out, it is customary to associate the following hormones and substances with the feeling of love:
1) Phenylethylamine is a substance produced by the brain in very small quantities. It is believed that this very substance is the culprit for the phenomenon of "crazy" love.
2) Oxytocin. A hormone produced by the brain and affecting the genitals (both women and men). In addition, this hormone promotes lactation in nursing mothers.
Love triangle
Renowned psychologist Zeke Rubin viewed love as a combination of affection, intimacy, and caring.
1) Affection is the need for care, physical contact, and approval from another person. If you feel lonely or uncomfortable and feel like complaining to a certain person, then according to Zeke Rubin's classification you are attached to that person.
2) Caring - Concern about others' happiness and needs more than their own. Feeling caring makes us able to put the other person's interests ahead of our own. In addition, the feeling of caring stimulates comfort and psychological support.
3) Intimacy refers to general feelings, thoughts and desires. The degree of intimacy determines the degree of trust and stimulates the sharing of emotions and ideas.
Love-palette
The author of the monograph "The Colors of Love" John Alan Lee considered not the essence of love, but its varieties. He correlates his understanding of love with the color wheel. There are three main colors on this circle, which are nothing more than styles of love. He gave these styles Greek names.
1) Strict - love-friendship
2) Ludos - love game
3) Eros - love for the ideal person
Drawing analogies with the palette of colors, Lee suggests that primary colors are capable of combining with each other. As a result, there are already nine types of love.
Love
Elaine Hatfield, who is one of the recognized classics of the psychology of love, distinguished two main types of love: passionate and compassionate.
1) Passionate love is directly related to very strong and uncontrollable emotions. According to Hatfield, such love depends on how we are raised and certain random circumstances. The confluence of circumstances, unique for each person, seems to press the “switch of love” in the brain.
2) Compassionate love is qualitatively different from passionate love and, ideally, passionate love should turn into compassionate. This love is based on shared values. People may just enjoy spending time together and socializing. Such love can be called love-friendship.