Researchers from Aalto University have actually drawn up where various kinds of love are felt in the body. The study surveyed individuals on 27 kinds of love, finding that all kinds are predominantly felt in the head. While the intensity and reach of these feelings differ, they tend to form a continuum from weaker to stronger experiences. Cultural and demographic elements likewise affect these experiences, suggesting more opportunities for exploration.
New research sheds light on where and how we feel various kinds of love.
Researchers from Aalto University have made a map of where in the body various types of love are felt and how highly they are experienced.
” It was noteworthy, though not extremely unexpected, that the kinds of love connected with close relationships are comparable and are the most strongly experienced,” says theorist Pärttyli Rinne, who collaborated the study. Doctoral researcher Mikke Tavast analyzed the data, while scientist Enrico Glerean developed the research study approaches. The task was jointly initiated by Rinne and Professor Emeritus Mikko Sams.
Research Methodology
The team surveyed participants about how they experienced 27 various kinds of love, such as romantic love, sexual love, adult love, and love for friends, complete strangers, nature, God, or themself. The group asked individuals where they felt the different kinds of love in their bodies and how intense the sensation was physically and mentally.
Their findings, published in Philosophical Psychology, suggest that the various types of love form a continuum from weaker to stronger. All of the types were felt strongly in the head, however they varied throughout the rest of the body– some spread only to the chest, while others were felt all over. The strongest kinds of love were felt most commonly throughout the body.
Individuals were asked to color in a body silhouette to reveal where they felt each type of love. They were asked to rank the nearness of the types of love.
Insights and Findings
” Love between persons is divided into sexual and non-sexual. The kinds of love that are particularly near each other are those that have a romantic or sexual dimension,” says Rinne.
” It was also intriguing to discover a strong correlation between the psychological and physical intensity of the feeling and its pleasantness. The more strongly a type of love is felt in the body, the more highly its felt in the mind, and the more enjoyable it is,” includes Rinne.
Rinne says that the group was captivated by the reality that all the different types of love are felt in the head. “When we move from more highly experienced types of love to less highly skilled types, the feelings in the chest location become weaker.
Cultural Variances and Study Limitations
Rinne also notes that there are cultural differences in love which the demographics of the study hall are connected to the experience of love. “If the same study were carried out in a highly spiritual neighborhood, love for God may be the most highly skilled love of all. If the subjects were parents in a relationship, as in our continuous brain study project, love for kids might be the greatest type of love,” states Rinne.
Referral: “Body maps of enjoys” by Pärttyli Rinne, Mikke Tavast, Enrico Glerean and Mikko Sams, 5 September 2023, Philosophical Psychology.DOI: 10.1080/ 09515089.2023.2252464.
The research was funded by the Kone Foundation, the Academy of Finland and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.
Scientists from Aalto University have actually mapped out where different types of love are felt in the body. “When we move from more highly knowledgeable types of love to less strongly knowledgeable types, the sensations in the chest area become weaker. Rinne also notes that there are cultural differences in love and that the demographics of the study group are connected to the experience of love. “If the same study were done in an extremely spiritual neighborhood, love for God might be the most strongly knowledgeable love of all. If the subjects were parents in a relationship, as in our ongoing brain study task, love for kids could be the strongest type of love,” states Rinne.
