Love: A Chemical Reaction or a Social Phenomenon?

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According to the Webster's dictionary love is defined as “a feeling of strong personal attachment; ardent affection or the strong liking of another person.” However, in all actuality what is love? What is it that causes the butterflies? What is it that causes the emotions that can't be described in words other than, “you just know?” the feelings for every person are unique when it comes to love which makes defining it even more difficult. Even though the relationships and the experiences differ for each person; the concept of love all involves the same three stages- lust, attraction, and attachment. Those three stages each have their own particular physiological effect on a person. The reactions that a person in love can have may include butterflies, sweaty hands, a rapid heartbeat and even more, but what is it that truly causes this? What is happening to a person’s brain when they are in love?

There are two theories behind love that seem to complement each other when it comes to defining love. These two theories are the psychological and the physiological. Separately each theory works well to illustrate the phenomenon that is love, but together the theories seem to fill in the gaps that the other leaves behind. The physiological theory elucidates love as a result of hormones. Hormones can be blamed for influencing many situations, but how a person decides to react to the hormones is where the two theories intersect each other. In the book “Human Development” written by James W. Vander Zander; Michael Liebowitz is quoted as:

Love has a unique chemical basis. Love and romance are among the most powerful activators of the brain's pleasure centers, and they may contribute to a special transcendent feeling-a sense of bei...

... middle of paper ...

...hat the cause of a person's feelings should be as well. While the definition and the beliefs that are involved in love may differ depending on person, times, and culture there is no debate that the emotion is a genuine phenomenon to the person experiencing it.

Works Cited

Fisher, Helen. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. New York:

Henry Holt, 2004. Print.

Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group,

2000. Print.

Lewis,Thomas, Fari Amini, Richard Lannon. A General Theory of Love. New York:

Random House, 2000. Print.

Liebowitz, Michael R..The Chemistry of Love. Boston: Little Brown and Company,

1983. Print.

Vander Zanden, James W.. Human Development. New York: Knopf,

1985. Print.

Zeki. S. “The Neurobiology of Love. “

FEBS Letters. 581. 2575-2579. Web. 11 April 2011.

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