Love

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the psychology of love. It begins by defining the difference between loving and liking something or some-one and discusses the way the two concepts are often incorrectly interchanged. The paper also discusses the physiological basis of love, such as its relationship to the sense of smell. It then discusses the neurological aspects of love.

From the Paper:

"Besides the psychological area love is involved in, there is also the physiological basis wherein love and attraction has something to do with the sense of smell. Here it is argued that pheromones have something to do with attraction and related responses to it. "A pheromone is any chemical produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others. Their use among insects has been particularly well documented, although many vertebrates and plants also communicate using pheromones. The existence of human pheromones is debated. (Science Daily, 2003)" As introduced by Tenenbaum, "Today, there is intriguing evidence that humans communicate with unconscious chemical signals. That parallels a wider appreciation of the similarities between the apparatus and techniques humans use for love and sex, and those the 'lower' animals use. That's not surprising: Evolution preserves techniques that work, particularly those that pass genes to the next generation. (Tenenbaum, 2006)" This olfactory basis for love has been explained in detail by Tenenbaum in his article The Science of Love. He argues that the chemical pheromones secreted the body sends out signals that affect the psychological and physiological realms of the receiving party. Even though there are not enough studies made on the effects of pheromones on humans, the parallel studies on animals proved otherwise - that pheromones indeed influence the nature of attraction in animals."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Garcia, Carlos Yela. "Temporal Course of the Basic Components of Love throughout Relationships." Psychology in Spain, Vol. 2 No. 1, 76-86. 1988. 24 July 2006. <http://www.psychologyinspain.com/content/full/1998/9frame.htm>.
• Hendricks, Chris, Olson, Dawn, Hall, Seth and Batt, Jonathan. "Physical Attraction." Living in a Social World - Psy 324: Advanced Social Psychology, Spring 1998. 24 July 2006. <http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/attraction/>.
• Insel, Thomas R. and Young, Larry J. "The Tie that Bonds: The Molecular Basis of Monogamy." Science and Spirit. 2002. 24 July 2006. <http://www.science-spirit.org/printerfriendly.php?article_id=190>.
• Love Actually. Writer and director Richard Curtis. Digital Video Disc. DreamWorks LLC and Warner Bros., Inc. 2003.
• Nemesysco Ltd. All About Love - Types of Love. 2003-2004. 24 July 2006. <http://www.love-detector.com/typesoflove.html>.

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