Critically consider psychological explanations of love

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Critically consider psychological explanations of love

There are three psychological theories of love, The Three Factor Theory of Romantic Love, Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love and Romantic Love and Attachment.

The three factor theory of romantic love suggested by Hatfield and Walster, recognises two types of love, passionate love and companionate love. Whilst passionate love can be seen as an intense physiological arousal which involves a longing for the other person, companionate love is more a feeling of affection towards those whom we feel deeply about.

Hatfield and Walster propose a theory to explain passionate love based on three factors; physiological arousal, appropriate love object and cultural exposure. The authors see love as a label that is placed on someone that we are physiologically aroused by. Experiencing this arousal will cause a person to state it is because of love, since this is what our culture teaches us happens when we are in love.

This theory receives support from research by Dutton and Aron. In this study, male participants were interviewed on a high or low suspension bridge, by an attractive female. The results supported the prediction that those males interviewed on a high bridge felt more sexual attraction to the woman, presumably because they experienced stronger physiological arousal. The males on the lower bridge felt less physical attraction, presumably because their physiological arousal was not as strong.

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It is possible that this theory could explain certain experiences such as love at first sight. However, since most people seem to fall in love gradually, this would suggest that for the majority of individuals, the label, love, comes first rather that the physiological arousal. The theory is also more applicable to western rather then eastern or collectivist cultures.

Sternberg defines love as - intimacy (sharing mutual understanding and emotional support), passion (involves physical attraction and sexual desire) and decision/commitment (involves the short-term decision that you love someone and a longer-term commitment to maintain that love). These three components ...

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