Theories of love
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Theories of love refers to a number of often-competing theories which seek to explain the phenomenon of love. Findings from a number of disciplines, including sociology and evolutionary biology, are incorporated and synthesized in order to explain the phenomenon.
The term can refer to several psychological and sociological theories:
- Attachment theory
- Biology of romantic love (evolutionary theory and neuroscience)
- Color wheel theory of love (based on the 1973 book The Colors of Love by John Lee)
- Passionate and companionate love theory (based on research by Elaine Hatfield)
- Filter theory
- Reward theory of attraction
- Rubin's scale of liking and love (based on research by Zick Rubin)
- Triangular theory of love
- Vulnerability and care theory of love
- The social constructionist approach to love (proposed by Anne Beall and Robert Sternberg)