Eight perspectives on romantic love – Dr Adam Bode – University Guest – Evolution Lab, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences- University of Melbourne

Romantic love is a motivational state typically associated with the early stages of a romantic relationship, and characterised by particularly intense emotions, cognitions, and behaviours. In this presentation, Adam applies an « Eight Perspectives » approach to romantic love, considering its evolutionary history, evolutionary functions, development, mechanisms, ecology, emotions, cognitions, and behaviours. This approach clarifies what is known and what remains unknown about romantic love, identifies promising research directions, and demonstrates the value of integrating proximate and ultimate levels of analysis within a single framework. Drawing on biological, ecological, psychological, and behavioural science research, Adam will argue that romantic love is likely a human universal that emerged 1.5 to 2 million years ago. It plays a role in cooperation, long-term mate choice, courtship, sex, and pair-bond formation, expresses with all of its features following puberty, and is underpinned by specific neurotransmitter systems (dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, and opioids) interacting across the neural circuits of reward, emotion, sexual desire, and social cognition. Ecological factors — including cultural suppression and national indicators such as gender equality — modulate the intensity with which particular features are expressed. The specific emotions and cognitions associated with romantic love are detailed, as are the behaviours.