Overview

Although clearly and consistently defining love is a difficult task, and often a subject of much debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't "love". As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more "pure" form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, though other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts.

Types

• Agape - the term was used by the early Christians (Greek to be specific, as the word is of Greek origin) to refer to an unconditional acceptance, favour and affinity toward a person. It is a love that is based on a decision instead of a feeling.
• Courtly love – a late medieval conventionalized code prescribing certain conduct and emotions for ladies and their lovers
• Cupboard love - a false or exaggerated affection shown in return for some kind of material gain
• Erotic love (eros) – Sexual attraction or desire toward a person
• Familial love – affection brokered through kinship connections, intertwined with concepts of attachment and bonding
• Free love – sexual relations according to choice and unrestricted by marriage
• Philia - used in the New Testament, philia is a sentimental or conditional love. i.e. "I love you, because..."
• Platonic love – a close relationship in which sexual desire is non-existent or has been suppressed or sublimated
• Puppy love – romantic affection that is not "mature" or not "true." The term is often used with negative connotations, insinuating that love between youngsters is less genuine or valuable
• Religious love – devotion to one's deity or theology
• Romantic love – affection characterized by a mix of emotional intimacy and sexual desire
• True love – love without condition, motive or attachment. Loving someone just because they are themselves, not their actions or beliefs in particular. Also referred to as unconditional love.
• Unrequited love – affection and desire not reciprocated or returned
• Lust-love - affection characterized by lust. i.e. The desire to satisfy or gratify oneself.
• Instantaneous love - Love that occours the instant that one person comes in contact with another and feels a deep connection or attraction to the other. Also known as "love at first sight" and refered to commonly in many fairy tales and folk lore and literature.
• Sacrificial love - the act of sacrificing one's life, or something of great importance, solely on the basis of love.

Scientific views

Chemical basis

Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that a consistent number of chemicals are present in the brain when people testify to feeling love. These chemicals include; Testosterone, Oestrogen, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, and Vasopressin. More specifically, higher levels of Testosterone and Oestrogen are present during the lustful phase of a relationship. Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Seretonin are more commonly found during the attraction phase of a relationship. Oxytocin, and Vasopressin seemed to be more closely linked to long term bonding and relationships characterized by strong attachments.

Cultural views

Religious views

Definitional issues

Dictionaries tend to define love as deep affection or fondness.^[1] In colloquial use, according to polled opinion, the most favoured definitions of love include the words:^[2]

Beauty

Charisma

Courtship

Crush

Dating

Emotion

• Erotic love
• Erotomania
• Erotophobia
• Falling in love
• Flirting
• Greek words for love
• Human bonding
• Intimate relationship
• Limerence
• Love at first sight
• Love-hate relationships
• Love letter
• Love-shyness
• Love sickness
• Lust
• Marriage

• Metta
• Personal commitment
• Personal relationship
• Persuasion
• Philia
  • List of philias
• Physical attractiveness
• Platonic love
• Polyamory
• Romance novels
• Romanticism
• Romantic love
• Seduction
• Seduction Community
• Sex
• Triangular theory of love

Notes

• Roger Allen, Hillar Kilpatrick, and Ed de Moor, eds. Love and Sexuality in Modern Arabic Literature. London: Saqi Books, 1995.
• Shadi Bartsch and Thomas Bartscherer, eds. Erotikon: Essays on Eros, Ancient and Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
• Helen Fisher. Why We Love: the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
• Gabriele Froböse, Rolf Froböse, Michael Gross (Translator): Lust and Love: Is it more than Chemistry? Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, ISBN 0-85404-867-7, (2006).
• Thomas Jay Oord, Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well-Being. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004.
• R. J. Sternberg. A triangular theory of love. 1986. Psychological Review, 93, 119–135
• R. J. Sternberg. Liking versus loving: A comparative evaluation of theories. 1987. Psychological Bulletin, 102, 331–345
• Sternberg, Robert (1998). Cupid's Arrow - the Course of Love through Time. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47893-6.
• Dorothy Tennov. Love and Limerence: the Experience of Being in Love. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. ISBN 0-8128-6134-5
• Dorothy Tennov. A Scientist Looks at Romantic Love and Calls It "Limerence": The Collected Works of Dorothy Tennov. Greenwich, CT: The Great American Publishing Society (GRAMPS), [2]
• Wood, Wood and Boyd. The World of Psychology. 5th edition. 2005. Pearson Education, 402–403

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