Theories of love

Theories of love can refer to one of a number of psychological and sociological theories of love:

Love is a very complex concept that has changed over the course of time. Different societies, cultures and eras have attached different values to the word and have different perspectives on the concept. In the 17th century, one's family would pick the person one was going to marry based on social class and economical status. In some cultures, girls are married by the age of 14 or even younger. Love as a word has many different definitions because there are different types of loves. As society advances and modernizes every year, it becomes even more difficult to define. Love has been compared to God because of the power it has over those who believe in it. Love has the ability to be the source of human's happiness, sense of worth, and a source of healing from hurt or suffering. This is a more religious and traditional definition of love. This definition hasn't disappeared, but more definitions joined it as the world began to modernize. In the 18th century, romantic love expressed sensibility and was authentic as it stood for "the truth of feeling". Even today love is very symbolic in Western culture. It is viewed by many as the reason for living. A symbolic interaction theorists believe that shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motives behind people's actions. Love is a universally known term and depending on the culture. Of course, not all countries place an importance on love. Countries such as Africa and India believe in arranged marriages and if love comes from that partnership, it is convenient, but not necessary.

Although love can be the motive for some people's actions and bring people joy, love can also bring us sadness. "Love does us no good if we love the wrong person." When people open their hearts, show their flaws, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses to the wrong person, it can result in heartbreak in regret. So why do humans deal with such a complicated thing such as love? Humans "need to love and to be loved".

In society, there are four types of love that are visible: agape, phileo, storge, eros. Agape is a type of unconditional love which is less common in society but more apparent between individuals and their god. Phileo is a love used to describe friendship between individuals. This love is commonly seen between friends in public, especially as displays of warm gestures. Storge is another type of love that is expressed through parenting. Eros is a romantic love which was a type of love forbidden in early society and is still forbidden in some societies today. These different types of love are expressed differently based on culture.

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Wikipedia