What is love? A complex systems perspective

Abstract

Love is a fundamental dimension of being human and a powerful resource for flourishing and well-being. Yet, it is still insufficiently understood. Despite advances, the Science of Love remains a fragmented field, producing mostly partial, fragmented and unintegrated views on love. In this paper, we present a novel perspective on love based on a complex systems perspective, building from a theoretical framework of families and family relationships as complex systems. We establish a set of preliminary assumptions for the development of an Integrated Theory of the Complexity of Love (C.ofLove) and for a novel inter and transdisciplinary research approach, as the foundations for an Integrated Science of Love.