當今心理學界對愛情的研究與方向

A Review of Research on Romantic Love and Its Prospects

在心理學界，愛情是個有趣卻少被深入探究的主題；主要是因為愛情是複雜而主觀的個人經驗，很難以科學計量的方式來研究。然而，有系統的、客觀的研究愛情實有助於人們了解愛情的本質，以及自己所處的關係。本文即根據現今心理學界已發展的各種理論架構，從不同的研究取向來窺探愛情的面貌。愛情被視為一種所有戀愛中人幾乎共有的情緒體驗；或被認為是代表個人對親密關係的一種獨特的表現方式與態度；而愛情因著不同的個人，亦會呈現出多樣的關係型態，不同的愛情內涵也與關係品質有明顯的關連。因此，愛情的內涵不再是狹隘而唯一，任何對愛情的討論必須考慮角度是否相同以及所指為何。而欲明白愛情的內涵，不論何種層次，均須採整合、完形（holistic）的觀點。在探討一般人（或個人）在經歷愛情時，須兼顧其情緒、認知與行為三方面的綜合體驗為何，才較能補捉愛情的全貌。經由本文的討論，筆者提出一些與愛情相關的衍生議題，如：國內一般人對愛情的看法為何？屬於台灣人的愛情風格又是如何？個別差異與愛情的關連，以及愛情關係如何演變？這些均是未來學者可能致力的研究方向。

In the field of psychology, romantic love has been an intriguing but rarely explored topic. As romantic love is a complicated and subjective experiences, it is difficult for it to be studied in a scientific and measurable way. the study of love helps people understand the nature of romantic love as well as the relationships they are involved in. This paper, based on different theories, attempts to reveal different features of romantic love from diverse research orientations. Love is regarded as a special emotion experienced by people in love; love also stands for individual behavior and attitudes toward the beloved, and thereby exhibits different relationship types. In this sense, the concept of romantic love should not be thought of in narrow and sole terms; any discussion of love should clarify its definition and aspects. A holistic, integrated approach can well describe individual experiences of romantic love that includes emotion, cognition. and behavior. This paper suggests that, the love styles among Taiwanese, and how love evolves and changes, deserve further studies.