The heart may be the “muscle of love,” but a new study reveals that the feeling of love is strongly felt in the head.
- All types of love were felt strongly in the head.
- Those with a sexual or romantic dimension were the strongest.
- Cultural differences and demographic characteristics related to the experience of love must be taken into account.
“Love is an essential biological, psychological, and sociological phenomenon. Using various conceptual models, philosophers have often distinguished different types of love, such as self-love, ‘romantic’ love, friendly love , love of God, love of family and love for strangers”, indicated researchers from Aalto University (Finland). In a recent study, they made a map showing where in the body different types of love are felt and their intensity.
The different types of love are strongly felt in the head
For the purposes of the work, the scientists interviewed several adults about how they experienced 27 different types of love. To create the map, the team collected data from hundreds of people through an online survey. Volunteers were asked to color in a body silhouette to show where they felt each type of love. They were also asked how they felt about different types of love physically and mentally, how pleasant the feeling was, and how it was associated with touch. Finally, they were asked to rate how close the love types were.
According to the results, published in the journal Philosophical Psychologythe different types of love form “a continuum from weakest to strongest”. All types were felt strongly in the head, but they differed in the rest of the body. Some extended only to the chest, while others were felt everywhere. The strongest forms of love were felt most widely throughout the body. “When we move from a stronger type of love to a weaker type, the sensations in the chest area weaken. It may be that, for example, love for strangers is associated with a process cognitive. It is also possible that pleasant sensations are felt in the head region. This is a question that deserves further study.” explained Pärttyli Rinne, author of the research, in a statement.
Love: cultural differences
“Love between people is divided into two categories: sexual love and non-sexual love. The types of love closest to each other are those that have a sexual or romantic dimension. It is also interesting to note that there is a strong correlation between the physical and mental intensity of the emotion and its pleasant character. The more a type of love is felt in the body, the more it is felt in the mind and the more pleasant it is “he added.
The researcher also clarified that there are cultural differences when it comes to love and that the demographic characteristics of the participant group are linked to the experience of love. “If the same study were conducted in a very religious community, love for God might be the most strongly felt love of all. Likewise, if the volunteers were parents in a relationship, love for children might to be the strongest type of love.”
