The Science of Compassionate Love

What is compassionate love? How does it differ from other types of love? Can it be developed or is it innate? The term compassionate love refers to various forms of other-centered cognitions, affect, and behavior: a giving of the self for the good of the other. It is the kind of love that is central to many religious traditions: a self-giving, caring, love that values the other highly and is intended to give full life to the other. The Science of Compassionate Love answers questions about altruism and compassionate love by providing innovative, state-of-the-art research from leadingscholars. Integrating a variety of perspectives, this volume provides insight intothe nature of compassionate love and how we might better understand it, and encourage its appropriate expression in our lives. Many disciplines, with unique foci and methods, contribute to our understanding of compassionate love. By drawing from various scholars in psychology, sociology, communication, family studies, and medicine, this volume presents and integrates knowledge in a way that is informative for teaching and helpful for research. It also lays out a variety of methods and measures that pave the way forfuture directions in this field.