Critical evaluation reveals evolutionary needs for connection drive love across relationship types and stages.
We critically evaluate the robustness of the “quest for significance” as a foundational driver of love. Drawing on attachment and belongingness theories, we argue that love stems from fundamental evolutionary needs for human connection. Furthermore, we propose that there should be a distinction on how the model is applied to explain love across different types and stages of relationships.
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Righetti et al. (2026) studied this question.
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