Humans are addicted to love and can’t get enough of it! When you experience love, your brain produces chemicals that cause pleasure and other pleasant sensations, leaving you wanting more. Receiving or giving flowers is a wonderful way to experience these sentiments of affection.
We tend to believe that love only exists between romantic partners, yet this is not the case. Humans can feel eight forms of love in diverse connections, such as romantic partners, friends, family, and even strangers on the street. Love is defined as a strong attraction combined with a strong sense of personal attachment. Compassion, love, and kindness are examples of attributes that may be used to describe a person. It is defined as acts of compassion and affection for another person, oneself, or animals.
Variations or symbioses of these states have been identified in non-western cultures. When compared to emotional states, love is difficult to consistently describe due to its variety of applications and meanings and the complexity of the sentiments involved.
Love may take many forms, all of which serve as key facilitators of interpersonal connections and keep the core psychological value of love alive. A human understands love when it helps to ensure the survival of the species.
In different situations, the term “love” has a range of connotations. To communicate love to others in many different languages, several words are employed. Affection, bonding, broken heart, compassionate love, conjugal love, courtly love, falling in love, free love, friendship love, interpersonal relationship, intimacy, love addiction, love(1) at first sight, triangle love, loving-kindness, lovesickness, love-struck, obsession love, puppy love, relationship love, self-love, unconditional love, unrequited love, unrequited love, unrequited love, unrequited love, unrequited love, unrequited These are the various types of love that a person might experience.
Different Types of Love
Defining love in simple, easy to understand terms. Learn about the 23 different types of love, including eros, ludus, storge, pragma, and agape.
1. Eros (Passionate Love)
Romance, passion, and attraction are all aspects of Eros. It depicts the exhilarating and stimulating feelings that might arise during the early stages of a relationship. Marriage therapist Jason B. Whiting, Ph.D., LMFT, tells mbg that “relationships frequently begin with intensity, including infatuation and desire.” “As thrilling as it is, it is really a fusion element intended to bring people together.” “Sexual desire, lust, or passion don’t always grow into permanent compassionate love,” Hallett says.
2. Pragma (Enduring Love)
Pragma can be translated as “practical love,” referring to love that is based on responsibility, dedication, and pragmatism. While this may be true of the kind of love that blooms in an arranged marriage, it also applies to the kind of love that you see in long-term relationships and life partnerships, such as when you encounter an elderly couple who has been together for decades. These are couples who, through time, figure out how to make it work.
Pragma necessitates a commitment to one another and can be viewed as a conscious decision or as the sort of love that develops over time via bonding and shared experiences. “The brain’s response to a valued long-term relationship appears to be satisfaction, loving, and nurturing,” writes Whiting. “Strong romantic partnerships require a combination of passionate love and compassionate love, which fosters a durable and healthy connection,” says Hallett. “Eros may grow into pragma, and many romantic relationships involve both.”
3. Ludus (Playful Love)
Ludus is highly flirty and enjoyable, without the ties that eros and pragma imply. It’s most noticeable in the early phases of a relationship, when two individuals are flirting, wooing, and crushing on one other. It usually entails giggling, teasing, and feeling euphoric around someone. It has a childish quality about it, yet it may surely mature.
4. Agape (Universal Love)
Agape is a sort of unselfish love that you would identify with saints like Mother Teresa or campaigners like Malala Yousafzai. According to Hallett, this love is a compassionate love for all people, also called universal loving-kindness. It’s the unconditional love you have for all living creatures, which you freely give without expecting anything in return. It’s a really aware and genuine affection. It’s comparable to what we call “unconditional love” on occasion.
5. Philia (Deep Friendship)
Philia is a close, long-lasting friendship that blossoms into love. Although it is platonic, you feel very close to individuals with whom you have philia and may confide in, trust, and appreciate them on a very intimate level. These friendships, according to Hallett, can have just as much influence as sexual ones. “The amount of grief and loss associated with a long-standing connection may startle people,” she adds. “Losing or ‘breaking up’ with a friend may be just as traumatic and difficult as losing a love connection.”
6. Philautia (Self-Love)
Philautia has been having a bit of a moment recently, and with good reason. This love is all about self-compassion and self-loving. Although it may seem self-evident, our connection with ourselves is critical, and it must be fostered. Philautia is crucial for our personal self-esteem and confidence and how we connect with the rest of the world. More self-love means more love to give. After all, you can’t pour from an empty cup.
7. Storge (Familial Love)
Storge refers to the affection between family members (usually immediate family) and close family friends or childhood pals. It varies from philia in the manner that blood, early experiences, and familiarity enhance it. “Friends are the family you pick,” as the saying goes. You don’t get to select your family, and whether or not they like them, many individuals have an instinctive affection for them. Storge is kind, protective, and has a strong sense of recall.
8. Mania (Obsessive Love)
While some may argue that this isn’t “love,” the Greeks did have a name for “obsessive” love: mania. This is what we call a toxic or codependent relationship, in which there is an imbalance of attachment that causes one person to become too connected to the other. It can be difficult to recover from mania, but if you can, a healthy balance of affection will be required.
9. Love For Friendship
For Greeks, it is known as the second type of love. It is regarded considerably more than Eros’ basis of sexuality. It was created by two brothers fighting side by side on the battlefield. It demonstrates their commitment to one another. It makes sacrifices and shares feelings with one another. In today’s world, it is most evident in friendship.
10. Love Of The Self
The Greek has cleverly realised it. It was divided into two kinds. One kind is connected with narcissism and is harmful. In which they grow enamoured with themselves and their own fame and wealth. The capacity of love enlarges its capacity.
11. Affection Love
Attraction, infatuation, and fondness are all terms used to describe affection. It is a mental or physical state of rarity. It is frequently linked to a certain emotion or form of love. It has spawned a plethora of psychological and philosophical sub-disciplines. Words, gestures, and touches can all be used to express affection.
12. Human Bonding
It refers to the process of forming a close interpersonal bond. Families and friends will be the most affected. It can also be created in groups like sports teams. Bonding is a two-way process; mutual is not the same as like.
It is the attachment process that occurs between romantic partners, close friends, parents, and children. Emotions and trust will define the relationship. This sort of love relationship leads to the formation of a family. Any two persons who spend time together will develop a strong relationship. This male connection is defined as forming a relationship between males based on the sharing of activities. Female bonding will result in the formation of a tight bond between them.
13. Conjugal Love
Companionate love is another name for conjugal love. It’s commitment and closeness without passion. Everyone goes through it at some point. Conjugal love can be experienced by a couple that has been in love for a long time but has not married. Conjugal love is defined as a couple marrying after fifty years of dating. Conjugate love is demonstrated in this way.
14. Compassionate Love
Altruistic love is another name for it. This study has been ongoing since the 1990s. It has a lot to do with creating limitless love. It’s not the same as compassion, romantic love, or charity.
15. Courtly Love
In mediaeval European literature, courtly love was depicted. It is stated that due of their courtly affection, ladies do different duties and adventures. This type of love was first encountered in literacy fiction for nobility’s amusement. Nobly loving is seen to be an enriching and improving habit.
In Provence’s ducal and princely states, Champagne, Aquitaine, the Norman kingdom of Sicily, and ducal Burgundy, courtly love started.
16. Falling In Love
Falling in love refers to the transition from a state of indifference toward a person to one of love. Mental, chemical, and temporal factors are among them.
17. Free Love
Free love is a social movement that opposes marriage and considers it to be a kind of social and financial enslavement. The primary objective of the free love movement was to detach the state from issues of sexuality such as birth control, adultery, and marriage. It is stated that such concerns were only of concern to the persons concerned.
18. Love Triangle
A romantic triangle or a romantic love triangle are other names for a love triangle. It is generally a romantic connection involving three persons. It refers to two persons who are romantically related to a third person in their own right, implying that three people are in a relationship with the other two. Relationships can range from romantic to familial to friendship. The friendship trio and the love triangle are formally identical.
There are two types of love triangles that may be identified. It’s a competitive triangle in which love competes with a rival for the affection of the beloved. Love has split attention between two love objects, resulting in a split object triangle.
19. Love At First Sight
Love at first sight is a unique experience for each person. It’s a popular literary cliche in which a single character has an intense, long-lasting romantic attraction to a stranger at first sight. Poets and reviewers characterised it beautifully in poetry, novels, and love stories. It’s primarily observed in western conflict. Isn’t this something we’ve all gone through?
20. Love Struck
When love becomes trapped in a relationship, a person is said to be “lovestruck.” The cause for the halt might be anything. If you’re lovestruck, it implies you’re experiencing physical and emotional symptoms related to falling in love. When any reason hits an individual’s emotion, he or she will be lovestruck. It affects a person’s emotions, and anything can happen. It is up to the individual to determine how they will be received. Some may take it in stride, while others will take it to heart. When a person is really in love with and accepts the other person, they are lovestruck.
21. Lovesickness
When a person’s love is struck, they experience lovesickness. It defines the informal syndrome of rejection or lack of love and physical and mental manifestations. Lovesickness causes a person to become depressed, which can lead to health issues. People would act as though they have lost everything in their lives.
22. Love Addiction
Love addiction is a suggested model of pathological passion-related behaviour involving the sensation of love. It implies that people will become addicted for many causes. It imitates the behaviour of a drug addict.
23. Unrequited Love
Unrequited love is sometimes referred to as one-sided love since only one person feels it. The person who admires the adored will be unaware of it. It will either be a strong love attraction or a conscious rejection. Almost everyone will feel one side of love at some point in their lives. Because they appreciate the other person, they fall in love for the first time with a stranger.
Following are some suggestions for expressing affection for a loved one.
- Everyone has their own method of expressing love for others.
- Some people will express themselves through letters.
- It will have the courage to talk straight to their lover and express their affection.
- Some argue that it is done inadvertently through social networking sites such as email and chat rooms.
- Some people express themselves through their partner’s friends and family.
Love is an eternal and priceless gift from God. Love is the one who will bring peace and harmony, with peace coming in second. What makes love special and unique is that we all have a special relationship with the people we care about. When you accept and offer love, you become 10 times better. Don’t you think so?
The Bottom Line
There are several definitions and variations of love, and everyone has their own unique mix of sorts with all of their loved ones.
“There are various types of attraction that bring individuals together, especially in intimate relationships,” Whiting says, “but it’s vital to have both passion and friendship in a long-term relationship.” “These two states light up in distinct but overlapping regions of the brain.”
Giving and receiving love is one of life’s greatest joys, regardless of who or how you’re loving, and knowing what we’re feeling for the people in our lives may help us nurture our relationships to be the most satisfying they can be.