contributed by Rhonda Rinehart
Humans are perhaps the only species that finds a need to not only define what love is, but to categorize it, measure it – and dare I say – celebrate it with cheap chocolates and stuffed animals. In our search for meaning, love is at the top of the list. And for all of our searching, we have a really hard time agreeing on what love is or how it’s manifested.
But wow do we try.
So let’s take a look at some highlights from Cummings Center collections on the topic of love and its many iterations.
What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Below are several visitor answers to “What Makes Us Human?” exhibit at the National Museum of Psychology at the Cummings Center.
The National Museum of Psychology invites museum visitors to delve into the human condition in an exhibit titled, “What Makes Us Human?” Visitors are encouraged to write their thoughts and comments on what makes homo sapiens tick, and what separates us from other animals. To date, there are 104 responses that include “love”, 63 instances of “empathy”, and 5 responses each for “sex” and “sympathy”. There are no instances of Valentine’s Day yet.
People have a lot to say about relationships, and where love fits into the human experience. Feelings of love, empathy, sympathy, passion, and other forms of strong emotions and their manifestations toward other living (or not) things are quite arguably only attributed to people. But don’t let that stop you from weighing in on this question!
Will This Be on the Test?
The Cummings Center test collection contains thousands of tests and assessments designed to help understand and determine human capabilities and functioning. From popular self-assessment quizzes designed more for entertainment than self-discovery, to professional assessment testing, you can find most anything to satisfy your curiosity about yourself and others.
This PsychoQuiz seems to attempt to determine a jealous personality type rather than how romantic a person might be. How Romantic Are You? From a regular column in Look magazine, 1947.
With drawings by Walter Miles, this fill-in-the-blank story test boasts a battle of the sexes scenario with a twist answer! Read the small print below the test to find out the answer. How Well Do You Know the Opposite Sex? PsychoQuiz. From a regular column in Look magazine, 1947.
Can We Talk?
If it’s at a conference venue, and it’s about love and attraction – then yes, let’s talk! The International Conference on Love & Attraction, held in 1977 at the University of Swansea in Wales, tackled such diverse and complex topics as sexual dysfunction, personality characteristics of types of desire, contraception, relationship equity, and non-verbal intimacy.
International Conference on Love & Attraction program, G. Marion Kinget papers, Box M3307
Conference participant, G. Marion Kinget, discussed “a crisis” in the conceptions of modern romantic love as it pertained at the time to redefining gender roles.
International Conference on Love & Attraction, G. Marion Kinget papers, Box M3307
Is It All Just Sex?
Nope. Romantic love is the biggest part of selling Valentine’s Day, but certainly not the only kind of love to be celebrated. So tell your step-mom, your kid, your dad, your friend and anyone else that means a lot to you how much you care for them. Hug your pet, therapy animal, shelter animal, or any sentient being that brings you joy. Talk to your plants if you want. It’s been said that they respond to verbal communication, too!
Postcard from the David B. Campbell postcard collection, Institute for Human Science and Culture, Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology
