The Cognitive Perspective + Love

The third psychological perspective that we are going to cover today is the cognitive perspective. Cognitive psychologists focus on the internal and mental processes which affect human behavior. Some things that these cognitive psychologists focus on are language development, how people form, store, and use memories, and how people perceive the world around them. Some well-known psychologists that mainly studied and focused on cognitive psychology include Albert Bandura, Robert Sternberg, and Elizabeth Loftus.

Cognitive psychologists believe that the causes of psychological disorders are due to the mental processes that affect the brain in a negative way. Many psychologists use this aspect of psychology along with other aspects to help diagnose patient’s and their psychological disorders.

The idea of love and falling in love is often seen in many places, whether it be the movies, tv shows, or real life. Robert Sternberg researched about love and the reasons as to why falling in love and giving love/affection is different for everybody. The idea of love is closely related to researcher Mary Ainsworth’s experiment about connection bonds: secure attachment, insecure attachment, and insecure ambivalent. From the names of the bonds themselves, it gives you an idea of connection bonds we formed when we were children. Hazan and Shaver, another group of researchers, later found out that these connection bonds influence our love lives: receiving and giving love, to be more specific.

Sternberg found eight types of love from the cognitive perspective, all of which have to deal with commitment, intimacy, and passion. Below is a chart showing the eight types of love. The “+” represent which love has commitment, intimacy, or passion, and the “-” represents which love doesn’t have these.

These psychologists uses the cognitive perspective for a variety of things such as love or research on how children form bonds with other figures. These experiences further shape our mind and mental presences.

If you made it all the way here, thank you so much and I’ll see you next time!

Best,

Saanika