The psycology of Love Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The psycology of Love - Research Paper Example Nonetheless, even this basic concept takes in an extensive spectrum ranging from passion, intimate romantic love to the platonic love or the close, emotional non-sexual familial love that one may feel for a friend . Something about love that has been a subject of recurrent debate is its nature, although by determining what love is not, one can clarify various aspects. Frequently, love is contrasted with hate, the latter being the most extreme. All the same, when focusing on the contrast between an emotionally intimate and a sexual form of romantic attachment, the difference in consideration is between love and lust. Various Western authorities classify love into two main categories namely the narcissistic and the altruistic. In his work, exploring the definitions of love and evil through applied psychology, , who , defines love as a combination of simple narcissism and ‘the will to extend one's self with the aim of nurturing another's or one's own spiritual growth’ repre sents this view. He adds that by combining these, love is perceived to be an activity rather than a feeling. Different theories of love, according to researchers and psychologists exist. These theories explain love, emotional attachment and liking. Triangular Theory of Love Robert J. Sternberg developed the Triangular Theory of Love. Robert J. Sternberg developed the Triangular Theory of Love. He was a Tufts University’s psychologist and according to his theory, passion, commitment and intimacy are the three elements that encompass any instance of an interpersonal association. Passion refers to conditions of physiological and emotional arousal. It includes physical attraction and sexual arousal in addition to other types of strong emotional experiences. Passion is the most common love form and is evident in both infatuation as well as romantic love. Infatuation results when passion alone rules – it is an almost wanton physical desire. Commitment on the other hand invol ves a resolution to commit to love the other and endeavoring to uphold that love over time. It is based on the prospect that the relationship is permanent. Intimacy is defined as two people sharing their personal lives’ details and confidences, generally illustrated within romantic love affairs and friendships it involves emotional support closeness and caring. In all love forms, changing levels of all three of these components are supposedly evident (Reddy, 2011 and Cohen, 2011). Different types of love result from different combinations of passion, commitment and intimacy. For instance, a combination of intimacy and passion brings about passionate love whereas a combination of commitment and intimacy brings about compassionate love (Cherry, 2005). Cherry (2005) adds that according to Sternberg, in contrast to relationships based upon only one component, relationships built on two or more elements are more lasting. To describe a blend of commitment, passion, and intimacy, St ernberg (1986) uses the phrase consummate love. He suggests that this type of love is the most enduring and the strongest. However, it is not common. According to Sternberg (1986), ‘consummate love’ is an equal relationship with all the three elements. Generally, people strive after this ideal. All the other six love forms bring out one or two of the points predominating on the triangle. These can be categorized into complex or simple permutations –