?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Evolutionary+aspects+of+love+and+empathy+&rft.creator=Allott%2C+Robin&rft.subject=Sociobiology&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=Love+has+always+been+a+central+preoccupation+in+individual+human+lives%2C+but+there+has+been+little+consideration+of+it+by+psychologists+or+other+scientists+and+little+attempt+to+explain+it+as+an+evolutionary+phenomenon.+There+are+various+possible+behavioral+precursors+of+love%3A+animal+%22love%22%2C+empathy%2C+group+feeling%2C+sexuality%2C+the+mother%2Finfant+bond.+The+principal+candidates+are+sexuality+and+the+mother%2Finfant+bond.+Sexuality+has+been+favored+as+an+origin+by+those+few+writers+who+have+discussed+the+issue+but+has+characteristics+which+distinguish+it+sharply+from+love+and+make+it+an+unlikely+precursor.+However%2C+the+mother%2Finfant+bond+alone+does+not+fully+account+for+the+characteristics+of+human+love.+Love+evolved+as+the+outcome+of+interaction+between+the+genetic+basis+for+mother%2Finfant+attachment+and+other+capabilities+of+the+evolving+human+manifested+in+and+made+possible+by+the+increase+in+human+brain-+size%3A+enlarged+cognitive+capacity%2C+improved+communication+abilities+and+the+evolution+of+language.+The+capacity+for+language+led+to+the+emergence+of+the+conscious+self%2C+and+with+this+the+capability+to+recognise+and+empathise+the+selfhood+of+others.+The+deepening+of+the+mother%2Finfant+attachment+into+love+played%2C+and+still+plays%2C+an+essential+role+in+the+transmission+of+culture+from+one+generation+to+the+next+and+in+making+possible+the+cohesion+of+the+human+group.+This+account+fits+well+with+recent+research+into+the+process+and+significance+of+the+mother%2Finfant+relation.+&rft.date=1992&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3392%2F1%2Flovempat.htm&rft.identifier=++Allott%2C+Robin++(1992)+Evolutionary+aspects+of+love+and+empathy.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3392%2F