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The essential roots of love
Francesca Righetti1, Richard B Slatcher2
1Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands f.righetti@vu.nl.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|May 27, 2026
Summary
Love arises from evolutionary needs for human connection, not solely the "quest for significance." Attachment and belongingness theories support this, suggesting relationship context matters for understanding love.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Sociology
Background:
- The
- quest for significance
- has been proposed as a primary driver of human motivation, including love.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the
- quest for significance
- theory as the foundational driver of love.
Main Methods:
- The study draws on established theories of attachment and belongingness.
- It provides a critical evaluation of existing models of love.
Main Results:
- Love is argued to stem from fundamental evolutionary needs for human connection.
- The robustness of the
- quest for significance
- as the sole driver of love is questioned.
Conclusions:
- A distinction is proposed for applying models of love across different relationship types and stages.
- Love is fundamentally rooted in evolutionary needs for connection, supported by attachment and belongingness theories.
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