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. 2023 Oct 17:14:1176067.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1176067. eCollection 2023.

Romantic love evolved by co-opting mother-infant bonding

Adam Bode  1
Affiliations

Romantic love evolved by co-opting mother-infant bonding

Adam Bode. Front Psychol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

For 25 years, the predominant evolutionary theory of romantic love has been Fisher's theory of independent emotion systems. That theory suggests that sex drive, romantic attraction (romantic love), and attachment are associated with distinct neurobiological and endocrinological systems which evolved independently of each other. Psychological and neurobiological evidence, however, suggest that a competing theory requires attention. A theory of co-opting mother-infant bonding sometime in the recent evolutionary history of humans may partially account for the evolution of romantic love. I present a case for this theory and a new approach to the science of romantic love drawing on human psychological, neurobiological, and (neuro)endocrinological studies as well as animal studies. The hope is that this theoretical review, along with other publications, will generate debate in the literature about the merits of the theory of co-opting mother-infant bonding and a new evolutionary approach to the science of romantic love.

Keywords: attachment; attraction; co-option; evolution; mother-infant bonding; pair bonding; romantic love.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Five systems that contribute to romantic love. Black arrows represent co-option.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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