INQ-260PY | Love, Lust & Limerence-Global

Full Title: Love, Lust, Limerence and Love-Sickness: The Cross-cultural study of the Etiology and Course of Romantic, Pair-bonded and Marital Relationships

Topic Description:

“Love makes the world go ‘round” as lyricists proclaim. With the development of fMRI brain scans cognitive neuroscientists now have a window into minds as persons enter an altered state of consciousness called “limerence” or “being-in-love.” Love is now a scientifically describable phenomenon. Cross-culturally, romantic love is questioned as a valid basis for socially sanctioned marriage. Examined will be the biological and psychosocial variables of proceptivity that determine the definition of beauty, flirtation, attraction, falling-in-love and pair-bond establishment. Are these factors universally human or culturally and socially specific? Examined will be at least six species of love and various psychological theories on love. How can pair-bonds and marriages endure? Need marriage always be monogamous or can it be successful in alternate forms as is seen in other cultures? What is jealousy and is it helpful or destructive to relationships?

Counts as Global? Yes

Topic Approved: April 2009