Love is an important emotion, especially for human beings. When you’re in love, you may feel completely devoted to your partner and willing to sacrifice everything for them. The intense attachment is fueled by hormones and affects decision-making and behavior. Love can be a very complex emotion that influences our decisions in many ways, from our feelings to our actions.
To understand love, we must first understand what it means. It is a positive, unconditional feeling that involves caring, affection, and self-sacrifice. It originates in the Triune Godhead, in the eternal relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We love each other because we are created in God’s image and are part of His creation. While we love our pets, the dog does not love us.
The emotion complex view of love takes a more inclusive perspective, articulating the emotional interconnections between people. It avoids the extremes of the union view and the narrow teleological focus of the robust concern view, but retains the idea that love is a complex emotional attitude toward another person. It also avoids a formal object of love.
Since Freud’s remarks, the field of research on love has continued to develop. However, some of the early studies on love drew considerable criticism. Some people even denounced researchers as wasting taxpayer money.