The New Psychology of Love

by Robert J. Sternberg

Love...What is it? Can we define it? What is its role in our lives? What causes love, and what dooms it? No single theory adequately answers all our questions about the nature of love, yet there are many theories that can contribute to our understanding of it. This fascinating book presents the full range of psychological theories on love - biological, taxonomical, implicit, cultural - updated with the latest research in the field. Robert Sternberg and Karin Weis have here gathered more than a dozen expert contributors to address questions about defining love, the evidence for competing theories, and practical implications. Taken together, these essays offer a comprehensive and engaging comparison of contemporary data and theories. As a follow up to "The Psychology of Love", which was published in 1988 and edited by Robert Sternberg and Michael Barnes, this new collection engages with the many changes in the study of love in recent years. New theories are introduced as are modifications to existing theories. Focusing not on a single point of view but on the entire range of current theories, "The New Psychology of Love" provides today's definitive account of the nature of love.

Robert J. Sternberg is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. He is the author or editor of some sixty books, including Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid, published by Yale University Press. Karin Weis is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and completing her post doctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut.