Differentiating between romantic and mature love: Revisiting the three caskets.

Freud's paper on the three caskets is revisited. His view that the lead casket represented death is supported by extracts from The Merchant of Venice, in particular the song, "Tell Me Where is Fancy Bred". It is argued that the acceptance of death is a necessary step in the transformation of romantic love to mature love. With experience of reality a disillusion of romantic idealisation becomes possible, but this means that losses have to be accepted and mourned. It is argued that this is made more bearable if an ironic stance enables an acceptance of the pleasures of romance without believing them to be literally true.

Adult attachment and love psychological stress among college students: the mediating role of core self-evaluation and the moderating role of meaning in life.

BACKGROUND: With college students going into dating relationships, dating partners become their new attachment figures. We aimed to investigate the relationship between adult attachment, and love psychological stress among college students, which also explored the roles of core self-evaluation and meaning in life. METHODS: We conducted a questionnaire survey on 813 college students using the adult attachment scale, core self-evaluation scale, meaning in life scale, and love psychological stress scale. We constructed a moderated mediation model to analyze the relationship between adult attachment and love psychological stress, as well as the mediating effect of core self-evaluation and the moderating effect of meaning in life. RESULTS: The results showed that after controlling for single parent or not, adult attachment significantly negatively predicted love psychological stress of college students. Core self-evaluation partially mediated the relationship between adult attachment and love psychological stress of college students. The second half of the mediation model was moderated by meaning in life, that is, with the increase of meaning in life, the negative predictive effect of core self-evaluation on love psychological stress of college students gradually strengthened. The findings of this study demonstrate the detrimental impact of adult attachment on love psychological stress of college students, as well as the mediating core self-evaluation and the moderating role of meaning in life. CONCLUSIONS: The mediating and moderating effect of adult attachment between love psychological stress, as well as the mediating effect of core self-evaluation and the moderating effect of meaning in life were confirmed. Overall, promoting the healthy development of adult attachment and helping them shape a positive meaning in life can enhance individuals' core self-evaluation, thus alleviating love psychological stress among college students. It can also provide references for mental health education in colleges and universities.

Effects of finitude salience and value orientation on the feeling of being moved.

Stories sometimes move us; this study examined the factors that strengthen the perception of core values based on the core value goodness hypothesis of being moved. Focusing on the infinity of core values, we hypothesised that the reaffirmation of the finite nature of human beings would emphasise core values. This study examined the factors that promote being moved: finitude salience and value orientation. The participants responded to a family value scale. Subsequently, a descrambling task to manipulate finitude salience was used. The participants composed sentences such as "Everything that exists in this world is finite" and primed finitude. Subsequently, they watched a video on the theme of family love and rated their feelings. From the results, we found that (a) the participants oriented towards the value themed in the video (i.e., love) were more strongly moved by it; and (b) when finitude was salient, people oriented towards the themed value in the video were moved more strongly by it than those who were not. This suggests that the feeling of being moved occurs when we recognise an infinite core value, in contrast to our finite existence.

Slovenian validation of the Capacity to Love Inventory: associations with clinical measures and mindfulness.

Aim: The main purpose of the present study was to validate the Slovenian version of the 41- item Capacity to Love Inventory (CTL-I). Based on psychoanalytic theory, limitations to capacity to love are expected to be associated with personality dysfunction and disintegration as well as fundamental mental capacities such as self-reflection and self-awareness. Method: To examine these assumptions, a sample of 552 Slovenian non-clinical individuals were recruited through academic networks. The construct validity of the CTL-I was assessed using a confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity of the CTL-I and its subscales was established against IPO-16, PID-5 BF, MAAS. Results: Our findings show that the Slovenian version of the CTL-I replicated the six-factor structure, exhibiting good model fit as well as satisfactory internal consistency of all subscales. In line with expectations, capacity to love was found to be inversely associated with dysfunctional personality traits and structural personality disturbances. Accordingly, higher dispositional mindfulness was coherently associated with all domains of CTL-I. Conclusion: The results add to the growing evidence for the cross-cultural validity and sound psychometric properties of CTL-I, presented here in the Slovenian version. Our findings also point to the significance of dispositional mindfulness both in relation to capacity to love as well as mental health.

Prototype Facial Response to Cute Stimuli: Expression and Recognition.

Cute, kindchenschema stimuli can evoke a suite of cognitive, physiological, and behavioral tendencies thought to promote caregiving. This research investigated facial expression elements associated with this response to cuteness and assessed the recognizability of an expression combining these elements. In Studies 1 and 2, participants at a community outreach event (Study 1, n = 19) and undergraduate students (Study 2, n = 103) showed spontaneous facial displays while watching videos/photos of baby humans and animals. These were Facial Action Coding System (FACS)-coded, revealing characteristic and statistically distinctive action unit elements of facial expression responses to cuteness. In six follow-up online studies (combined N = 962), including replications with Syrian refugees (n = 103) and Chinese samples (n = 222), a "cuteness prototype" expression combining all elements identified across Studies 1 and 2 (i.e., oblique brows, chin raise, lip tightening, and Duchenne smile) was commonly interpreted as a response to cuteness. These findings add to a growing literature about caregiving-focused motivational states and associated emotion/affect.

The scale of myths of romantic love: Evidence of validity and reliability of a brief scale in Peru.

The study aimed to provide validity evidence and reliability of the Scale of Myths of Romantic Love (SMRL) in Peru among young and adult individuals. Focusing on how romantic love myths affect relationship satisfaction and their ties to interpersonal violence, sexism, and gender inequality, the methodology involved 308 participants, mainly females (75%), using the SMRL and Relationship Assessment Scale. Bayesian Confirmatory Factor Analysis (BCFA) assessed the scale's structure and reliability, complemented by descriptive statistics and correlation analyses to examine the myths' impact on intimate relationships. Results showed the SMRL's two-dimensional structure, confirming its robust psychometric properties and satisfactory internal consistency. Descriptive findings revealed a skeptical view of traditional romantic myths among participants, indicating the scale's good reliability and successful adaptation to the Peruvian context. This validation highlights how debunking romantic love myths can improve relationship dynamics and satisfaction and addresses their wider societal effects.

The Evolution of Mate Attachment.

AbstractWhether natural selection leads to attachment in monogamous pair bonds has seldom been addressed. Operationally defining attachment as a behavioral modifier that decreases divorce probability with pair duration, we develop a model for the evolution of attachment. If divorce (the ending of a pair bond when both individuals survive to the next breeding season) is more likely to occur out of poor-quality reproductive opportunities (i.e., poor territory or low-quality mate), individuals in experienced pairs are more likely to be found in high-quality opportunities. Consequently, when divorce decisions occur using imperfect information from reproductive success, pair duration provides individuals with information about the quality of their reproductive opportunity and attachment can evolve. We show that high survival rates, divorce propensities, and probabilities of nest failure favor the evolution of attachment. Attachment is also more likely to evolve when individuals can directly assess the quality of their reproductive opportunity (as opposed to relying on imperfect information from reproductive success), when the quality of the reproductive opportunity has adult survival ramifications, and when divorce coevolves with attachment. We show that our core conclusions are robust to a variety of assumptions using individual-based simulations. Our results clarify how attachment can be adaptive and suggest that studying pair bonds as dynamic entities is a promising avenue for future work.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Lovebird Scale.

The term "lovebirds" is often used to describe the loving behaviors and interactions between two romantic partners, but what specific processes distinguish these flourishing lovebird relationships from other committed but "numbed" relationships? The present study aimed to address this knowledge gap through the development and preliminary validation of the Lovebird Scale. The Lovebird Scale describes the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and habits that constitute and maintain relationship flourishing, which in turn could promote aspects of individual flourishing such as positive affect. We conducted three studies using data collected from 996 English-speaking U.S. adults (64.2% Female, M = 39.2 years old) who reported being in a romantic relationship for at least six months (M = 11.2 years). In Study 1, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying factor structure. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-factor model nested within a higher-order factor representing lovebird relationships. In Study 3, we cross-validated the higher-order structure, examined the construct validity of the scale, and explored associations between the Lovebird Scale and affective state. Finally, we discuss how the Lovebird Scale contributes to the growing field of positive relationship science as well as conceptual and clinical implications of the scale.

Joyful growth vs. compulsive hedonism: A meta-analysis of brain activation on romantic love and addictive disorders.

Due to the similarities in behavioral characteristics between romantic love and addictive disorders, the concept of being "addicted to someone" transcends mere literary metaphor, expanding perspectives on the study of romantic love and inspiring interventions for addiction. However, there has been a lack of studies systematically exploring the similarities and differences between romantic love and addiction at the neural level. In this study, we conducted an extensive literature search, incorporating 21 studies on romantic love and 28 on addictive disorders, focusing on fMRI research utilizing the cue reactivity paradigm. Using Activation Likelihood Estimation, we examined the similarities and differences in the neural mechanisms underlying love and addiction. The results showed that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) exhibited both shared and distinct activation clusters between romantic love and addictive disorders. Furthermore, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) was more frequently activated in romantic love than in addictive disorders, while greater activation within the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was found in addictive disorder compared with romantic love. We discussed that the activation of ACC and VMPFC may symbolize self-expansion, a process that characterizes the development of romantic love, contributing to a more enriched self. Our study suggests that while romantic love and addictive disorders share a common neural foundation, the discernible differences in their neural representations distinguish them as joyful growth versus compulsive hedonism.

Women's Revenge in Sexual Behavior? An Interpretation About "The Fourth Love" in Chinese Youth Culture From the Perspective of Gender Performativity.

In the current era of exploring changing sexual behavior, promoting and supporting the diversity of pleasure, the sexual health and rights of sexual minorities are getting more public attention, among which the "Fourth Love" emerges as a distinctive group within the framework of Chinese culture. Fourth Love refers to a loving relationship between couples of the opposite sex where the woman assumes the traditional male gender role and the man assumes the traditional female gender role, and always accompanied by a special pattern of sexual behavior that women penetrate the men's anus using their fingers or a device. This theoretical article begins by introducing and discussing the historical background, core concept "Fourth Love" and its related categories. Subsequently, we start from Judith Butler's gender performativity theory and interpret the Fourth Love from the perspective of "de-naturalization" and argue that the gender performativity theory provides a reasonable explanation for the gender characteristics (female top and male bottom) of the Fourth Love. Finally, we posit a discussion and outlook on the survival and development of the Fourth Love in the fields of sexual health, sexual pleasure, sexual right, and family and marriage, and calls for more understanding and psychological support from the society for them.

When artistic is altruistic: the power of beauty from P. A. Sorokin's sociology to Building Beauty social project.

The article contributes to the ongoing debates on the social value and sociological relevance of the arts by examining the intuitions of the Russian-American sociologist P. A. Sorokin (1889-1968) on the concept of "beauty" as a force akin to what he calls "Altruistic Creative Love", both potentially catalysing a process of "fraternisation of humanity". Starting from the author's sociological reflections on the relationship between "Altruistic Love" and "beauty" and an analytical model of "altruistic artistic social action," the article proposes the analysis of a specific social project named Building Beauty, promoted in Turin (Italy) by universities, public bodies and the third sector, which aims to foster the social inclusion of homeless people through participatory processes, discovering expressions of beauty with aesthetic and sociological relevance simultaneously, able to move social transformations.

Young adults' desired life tradeoffs: love first, sex last.

Every human and non-human animal must make tradeoffs in investments in terms of time, energy, and resources. The aim of this study was to extrapolate from the types of investments in survival and reproduction that non-human animals make and translate these into human motivations. 16 potential goals were presented to 851 childless, 18-23-year-old adults from 11 world regions in an online study. Each young adult was asked to weight the importance of every goal to his or her ideal life. Weights had to sum to 100, requiring tradeoffs. Results revealed striking agreement across young adults with only four goals weighted above chance: Finding a beloved romantic partner, being physically and emotionally healthy, and earning money or resources. Having lots of sexual partners was the least important goal across all world regions for both sexes. Nevertheless, men more than women valued having many sexual partners, being talented outside work, being physically strong, and having a physically attractive romantic partner. Overall, there was cultural variation in some of the less important goals. Helping young adults achieve success requires understanding their own goals, rather than focusing on popularized depictions of what young adults desire.

Nurses' values when caring for persons suffering from substance use disorder: A hermeneutical study.

BACKGROUND: Persons suffering from a substance use disorder (SUD) in need of help from low-threshold centres have complex and severe conditions together with uncontrolled use of mainly illicit substances. Their sufferings are all-encompassing and demand ethically aware nurses with competence to take care of somatic, existential and spiritual needs. AIM: To explore and describe a new understanding of the ethical and ontological values upon which nurses base their work when caring for persons suffering from SUD. METHODOLOGY: The study had a hermeneutical approach. A focus-group interview was conducted with five nurses working at a low-threshold centre in Norway. Data analysis was carried out through a hermeneutical reading based on Gadamer's hermeneutics. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The study was approved by the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (SIKT). Oral and written consent was obtained from the participants. RESULTS: The hermeneutical reading revealed three dimensions; A wish to be useful; Nurses' motive for caring for persons suffering from SUD is a wish to be useful and needed. Nurses are fighting a battle against injustice and stigmatisation. Neighbourly love, the core value; Neighbourly love serves as the basis for the nurses` work. Nurses feel humble towards their clients, they feel privileged to have the opportunity to help others through compassionate care. The value of being clients` advocate; Nurses are trying to ensure that clients receive the help they need. A large part of nurses` job is to monitor and take care of the clients` condition. This involves working close to death, trying to save lives. CONCLUSION: Nurses wish to care in accordance with their ethos of usefulness. Sacrifice stands out as the ultimate form of neighbourly love, empowering nurses with moral authority to act as advocates for their clients.

The Development of a New Model of Educational Leadership: Leadership for Teacher Flourishing.

This paper contributes to a broader movement in which the telos of leadership is flourishing, and the primary role of a leader is to promote the flourishing of their team members through creating a loving environment. In support of this, we propose a new perspective on, and associated model, of educational leadership: 'leadership for teacher flourishing' (LFTF). This model was developed through a literature review and a mixed methods research project across 78 British schools with collaborative and participatory elements which asked how school leaders could improve the flourishing of teachers. The quantitative and qualitative findings suggested that key factors in enabling teachers to flourish, and therefore incorporated into the model 'LFTF', were positive relationships; opportunities for growth; positive impact on subjective wellbeing; and increasing teachers' sense of meaning at work. The ways leaders could impact these factors were reported as: being supportive and compassionate; being trustworthy; giving teachers autonomy; enabling teachers to grow; being appreciative and focusing on strengths; and enabling teachers to do meaningful work. It was also found that not only leaders could influence flourishing; teachers with no formal leadership role could also positively impact teacher flourishing. It is suggested that virtuous dispositions in leaders are required to ensure they are consistent in acting in ways that promote flourishing. We argue that this integration of virtue and a desire to promote flourishing is properly understood as love. The participatory and collaborative phase of the research showed that teachers wanted autonomy in deciding what would help them to flourish. The conclusion sets out the implications of this research for policy on the training and selection of school leaders, to improve not only the flourishing of teachers, but also pupils and communities.

Inspired to act: motivational effects of being moved by love and willpower.

ABSTRACTPeople can be moved and touched by exceptional closeness between people or by outstanding willpower. We investigated the causal effect of these feelings on motivations. We based our research on the previously identified phenomenon that feelings of being moved are stronger in unfavourable circumstances (e.g. psychological closeness after conflict, high achievement against all odds). In two studies in the US (N1 = 136) and in Germany (N2 = 161), we independently varied context (love vs. willpower) and circumstances (favourable vs. unfavourable) in short stories and assessed feelings of being moved as well as the motivation to show love and the motivation to show willpower after each story. In both contexts and consistent across the two studies, unfavourable circumstances elicited stronger motivations to show love as well as stronger motivations to show willpower. Multilevel mediation modelling revealed that these effects were mediated by feelings of being moved. This indicates that feelings of being moved enhance pro-social as well as achievement-related motivations.

The Heart of Residency.

Description As part of wellness activities in 2023, our family medicine residents produced individual paintings. Samantha coalesced these 4 × 4 canvases to create this heart. The following quote is also poignant for those of us in family medicine.

Parental expressions of love in Chinese American immigrant families: Implications for children's attachment security.

Harlow's seminal work on the nature of attachment focused on the importance of warm, responsive, and loving relationships in children's healthy development. While the need for love and care is arguably universal, the ways in which these emotions are expressed can vary across cultural contexts. We examined how Chinese American parents' expressions of love were associated with children's attachment security. A total of 110 Chinese American immigrant parent-child dyads (children 7-11 years old, 49% girls) participated in 3-min conversations in which parents were instructed to communicate love and care. Proposition-level analyses in speech (total 8825 propositions) identified three types of affection: training (guan and chiao shun); relational affection (qin); and validation (acceptance and encouragement of child's own expression of emotion, thoughts, and behaviors). Higher training was observed in parents with lower American orientation and lower income. Higher relational affection was observed in parents with lower income. Higher validation was observed in parents with higher income. Using path analyses, training and validation were found to be positively associated with children's attachment security beyond parenting styles. Effects of parents' relational affection were moderated by children's American orientation. Results demonstrate how immigrant parents draw on multiple cultural scripts to express love and care. These findings expand traditional concepts of parental love in immigrant families and illustrate how bicultural expressions of love can shape attachment security in middle childhood. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/HqUfIDxkFsE RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Analyses of parent-child discussions identified three parental affection styles (i.e., training, relational affection, and validation) as expressions of love and care in Chinese American immigrant families. Training and validation were positively associated with children's attachment security. Relational affection was associated with lower attachment security for children with higher American cultural orientation, suggesting the effects of parent-child expressions of love are shaped by acculturation.

Stress Wave Propagation in a Rayleigh-Love Rod with Sudden Cross-Sectional Area Variations Impacted by a Striker Rod.

This paper presents an in-depth study of the stress wave behavior propagating in a Rayleigh-Love rod with sudden cross-sectional area variations. The analytical solutions of stress waves are derived for the reflection and transmission propagation behavior at the interface of the cross-sectional area change in the rod, considering inertia and Poisson's effects on the rod material. Examples solved using the finite element method are provided to verify the correctness of the analytical results. Based on the forward analysis of Rayleigh-Love wave propagation in a rod impacted by a striker rod, an impact-echo-type nondestructive testing (NDT) method is proposed to conduct defect assessment in rod-type structural components with sudden cross-sectional area changes within a cover medium. This proposed NDT method can identify the location, extension, and cross-sectional area drop ratios of an irregular zone in the rod to be inspected.