What Has Science Discovered About Love?

Fortunately, most of us in the world learn the meaning of love through personal experience, thanks to family and other loved ones. However, we incorporated a lot of data and experiences through alternative sources. For example, through cinema, advertising, music …

In general, these sources of information have a few things in common:

• On the one hand, they speak of love as something exclusive to a person, intimate, and that occurs between their closest and loved ones.
• On the other hand, they try to expand the experience in time, as something lasting, “eternal”, which is lived “forever.”

What has science discovered about love?

Going to the scientific field, Barbara Fredrickson (Professor of Psychology and Director of the Laboratory of Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ), argues that, according to positive psychology studies, we must see love, rather than under the halo of “romance”, as a sum of micro-moments of connection with other people.

From this point of view, love is a micro-moment in which two people immerse themselves in a special connection. Thus, there is the excitation of a certain group of neurons that release a large amount of neurotransmitters that produce feelings of well-being, pleasure and desire to be with that person.

Micro-moments of love are not exclusive to a single person

We tend to think that the right thing to do is to love only one person. However, research suggests that these connections can occur with multiple people. This has a negative and a positive part:

• The negative is that, from this point of view, we can have that special connection with more than one person. So we could fall in love or love more than one person
• The positive is that if we believe in this capacity, we can live love as a general quality that connects us with the rest of humanity.

A couple share thousands of micro moments during their relationship

Although we are capable of living this emotion in common with many people, we can decide to form a couple with someone in particular. Between that someone and us there must be thousands of micro moments that can be fostered and relived, which will make the relationship something very special.

Love does enter through the eyes

Eye contact is vital, at least in our culture, for the connection necessary for love to occur. It is very clear that a lot is looked at what we like a lot. Also, the way someone looks says a lot about us. Looking into each other’s eyes, suggesting with their eyes, etc. It is essential to generate relationships between individuals.

Love will make you live better

Those who love know the value of giving, sharing, being generous, grateful and many other sensations that undoubtedly improve our mood. Emotions are known to influence our health. Obviously, the better emotions, the better overall health. Therefore, the greater the health, the greater the physical and mental well-being. It is a feedback loop. 

Being healthier will make you love more

Indeed, the relationship runs both ways. Physically healthy people are better able to establish micro-moments of love with the people around them. People are capable of producing a health-love-health circle that leads us to enjoy life more fully.

In summary, many people hold the belief that is embodied in that famous phrase by Blas Pascal, “The heart has reasons that reason does not know . ” However, it is very interesting to know these facts that science begins to reveal about love.