Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 May 2;14(5):383.
doi: 10.3390/bs14050383.

Refuting Six Misconceptions about Romantic Love

Sandra J E Langeslag  1
Affiliations
Review

Refuting Six Misconceptions about Romantic Love

Sandra J E Langeslag. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

Scientific research on romantic love has been relatively sparse but is becoming more prevalent, as it should. Unfortunately, several misconceptions about romantic love are becoming entrenched in the popular media and/or the scientific community, which hampers progress. Therefore, I refute six misconceptions about romantic love in this article. I explain why (1) romantic love is not necessarily dyadic, social, or interpersonal, (2) love is not an emotion, (3) romantic love does not just have positive effects, (4) romantic love is not uncontrollable, (5) there is no dedicated love brain region, neurotransmitter, or hormone, and (6) pharmacological manipulation of romantic love is not near. To increase progress in our scientific understanding of romantic love, I recommend that we study the intrapersonal aspects of romantic love including the intensity of love, that we focus our research questions and designs using a component process model of romantic love, and that we distinguish hypotheses and suggestions from empirical findings when citing previous work.

Keywords: brain; close relationships; emotions; love; misconceptions; myths; neuroscience.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Carver K., Joyner K., Udry J.R. In: National Estimates of Adolescent Romantic Relationships, in Adolescent Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications. Florsheim P., editor. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers; Mahwah, NJ, USA: 2003. pp. 23–56.
    1. Jankowiak W.R., Fischer E.F. A cross-cultural perspective on romantic love. Ethnology. 1992;31:149–155. doi: 10.2307/3773618. - DOI
    1. Aron E.N., Aron A. Extremities of love: The sudden sacrifice of career, family, dignity. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 1997;16:200–212. doi: 10.1521/jscp.1997.16.2.200. - DOI
    1. Berscheid E. Love in the fourth dimension. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2010;61:1–25. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100318. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fisher H.E. Lust, attraction, and attachment in mammalian reproduction. Hum. Nat. 1998;9:23–52. doi: 10.1007/s12110-998-1010-5. - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.

LinkOut - more resources