WHAT IS LOVE

 What Is Love?

Love is a set of emotions and behaviors characterized by intimacy, passion, and commitment. It involves care, closeness, protectiveness, attraction, affection, and trust. Love can vary in intensity and can change over time. It is associated with a range of positive emotions, including happiness, excitement, life satisfaction, and euphoria, but it can also result in negative emotions such as jealousy and stress.1

"When it comes to love, some people would say it is one of the most important human emotions. Yet despite being one of the most studied behaviors, it is still the least understood. For example, researchers debate whether love is a biological or cultural phenomenon.

Love is most likely influenced by both biological drives and cultural influences. While hormones and biology are important, the way we express and experience love is also influenced by our personal conceptions of love

"Attachment: Needing to be with another person and desiring physical contact and approval

Caring: Valuing the other person's happiness and needs as much as your own

Intimacy: Sharing private thoughts, feelings, and desires with the other person

Based on this view of romantic love, Rubin developed two questionnaires to measure these variables, known as Rubin's Scales of Liking and Loving. While people tend to view people they like as pleasant, love is marked by being devoted, possessive, and confiding in one another. 

 The Difference Between Liking and Loving

Types of Love

Not all forms of love are the same, and psychologists have identified a number of different types of love that people may experience.1 These types of love include:

Friendship: This type of love involves liking someone and sharing a certain degree of intimacy.

Infatuation: This is a form of love that often involves intense feelings of attraction without a sense of commitment; it often takes place early in a relationship and may deepen into a more lasting love.

Passionate love: This type of love is marked by intense feelings of longing and attraction; it often involves an idealization of the other person and a need to maintain constant physical closeness.

Compassionate/companionate love: This form of love is marked by trust, affection, intimacy, and commitment.

Unrequited love: This form of love happens when one person loves another who does not return those feelings.

Is Love Biological or Cultural?

Some researchers suggest that love is a basic human emotion just like happiness or anger, while others believe that it is a cultural phenomenon that arises partly due to social pressures and expectations. 

Research has found that romantic love exists in all cultures, which suggests that love has a strong biological component. It is a part of human nature to seek out and find love. However, culture can significantly affect how individuals think about, experience, and display romantic love.

How to Practice Love

There is no single way to practice love. Every relationship is unique, and each person brings their own history and needs. Some things that you can do to show love to the people you care about include:"

Be willing to be vulnerable

Be willing to forgive

Do your best and be willing to apologize when you make mistakes

Let them know that you care

Listen to what they have to say

Prioritize spending time with the other person

Reciprocate loving gestures and acts of kindness

Recognize and acknowledge their good qualities

Share things about yourself

Show affection

Show unconditional love

 Does Unconditional Love Make Healthy Relationships?

Impact of Love

Love, attachment, and affection have an important impact on well-being and quality of life. Loving relationships have been linked to:

Lower risk of heart disease

Decreased risk of dying after a heart attack Better health habits

Increased longevity

Lower stress levels

Less depression

Lower risk of diabetes 

"So while love is associated with a host of positive emotions, it can also be accompanied by a number of negative feelings as well. Some of the potential pitfalls of experiencing love include:

Anxiety

Depression

Increased stress

Jealousy

Obsessiveness

Possessiveness

Sadness

While people are bound to experience some negative emotions associated with love, it can become problematic if those negative feelings outweigh the positive or if they start to interfere with either person's ability to function normally. Relationship counseling can be helpful in situations where couples need help coping with miscommunication, stress, or emotional issues.