The Science of Love

by Wind Goodfriend

How can things like the scientific method, experimental design, and statistical analysis be applied to something as mysterious and delicate as love? In fact, the science of love is a well-established thing.

Through this eye-opening examination of one of our most ethereal emotions, you’ll gain effective insights to adjust and enhance the way you interact and communicate with the important people in your life. Understanding the science of love can help you appreciate the motivations behind what people do and how individual differences can explain the romantic choices we make.

Through 10 illuminating lectures, Dr. Wind Goodfriend surveys the biology of interpersonal attraction, sexual preference and desire, and conflict resolution. You’ll look at a variety of romantic notions, common myths, and love stereotypes through the lens of science in order to break them down and better set expectations when it comes to keeping a long-term relationship happy and healthy. You’ll apply biology, psychology, and anthropology to that “spark” we feel when we are attracted to someone, to better understand what that feeling is. Hint: It’s not magic.

Love is one of the strongest emotions humans can experience. You will also examine the dark side of love—the power and influence it can have over us. And you’ll explore three very popular, but also very different, theoretical perspectives on how we behave in relationships.

Love is a source of never-ending fascination. Comprehending this complex and complicated emotion can help us understand—and love—each other better.

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: Audiobook, Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Relationships

Audiobook

Published February 16, 2021

Reviews

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an audio Great Courses presentation. The professor has an energetic and easy to understand voice. She goes through the various studies both old and new that concern love, relationships, dating, sex, perversion, and so forth. I found it somewhat helpful in terms of understanding my own marriage, but the professor is not giving advice. She is just telling the listener some possible reasons why people are the way they are.

Note: some of the lectures discuss immodest subjects. If you embarrass easily, or if you are practicing modesty, you should probably skip those lectures or perhaps the entire course.

I'd listen to the audio course again.

[Wendy Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-structured lecture presenting common sense, which are backed by evidence. I particularly like her unbiased view on terminologies used in current theory, and her summary with Finkel’s finding on meaning for our psychological growth and self-identity. However, I was hoping for a more in-depth investigation.

[Gregory Eakins · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this Great Courses audiobook, Wind Goodfriend answers a handful of questions about love, desire, and attraction using the latest of our scientific understanding.

The main problem is that no difficult questions are answered here, and no in-depth answers are offered. Instead, the content of this book falls squarely into the basket of, "common sense" for 99% of people who have had any amount of human interaction over the years.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic intro to the area, plenty to think about.

My degree was in Psychology, so a lot of the content here was very familiar, but I did still find a few nuggets, theories and new terminology I was glad to hear about.

Not a self-help guide, but a series of lectures that one can use to consider one's own relationships and styles of communicating with loved ones, with a lot of excellent theory, names and studies backing it all up.

Easy to listen to, each half-hour lecture was just enough to take in, though I could certainly have gone for longer on many of the topics.

There is a warning at the start of one lecture about some graphic content, but I didn't have an issue at all, though some may (fantasy/porn references, you can imagine where this might lead).

A pleasant listen, no issues with the narrator.

Good basic information and a topic we should all consider and re-evaluate as part of self-examination.

[Kekoa Riggin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Science of Love is a podcast-style audiobook from Audible. It covers a number of topics or concepts of love in a series of chapters, which feel more like episodes.

Each chapter deals with a new subject which is governed by scientific studies. By tying each chapter to quantitative studies, the author creates what indeed could be considered a science of love. Of course, love is rather elusive, but this book comprises an exploration of what might be adequate in defining love.

As an audiobook, the prose must be accessible to even distracted readers. Apart from the potentially mature topic of sex, I wouldn't say this book is beyond any reader.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the philosophy of love, folks who are interested in studies behind intimate interpersonal relationships, and anyone who likes well-produced podcasts.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Science of Love. It offers a fascinating look into the psychology of love, broken down into simple, digestible points. The main concepts, such as the role of attachment, the science behind attraction, and how love affects our brain chemistry, were explained in a way that's easy to follow and understand. The narration was also very pleasant, making the listening experience enjoyable throughout. It’s a great choice for anyone interested in learning more about love from a psychological perspective without getting overwhelmed by complex jargon. Highly recommend!

[Shellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot to unpack here. This is a very interesting course. It provides the “human-speak” to many studies. This way it’s easier to “read” their outcomes, because the author has done that for you. With only occasional personal interjections, but they don’t derail the overall effect.

Not a pleasure read for sure, but one that probably should be read by many. There’s some pretty good information.

[Chad Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book mentions a number of interesting studies, such as the t-shirt study, or the one where an attractive woman suggests having sex to strangers, or the one where danger makes people feel more focused on sex or sexual attraction. I'm pretty sure every one of the studies mentioned I had already heard of from other books, but still, this isn't bad.

[Karly Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this audio is common sense but I also have a degree in psychology and knew a lot of the information beforehand where the average person might not. The narrator did an excellent job of being informative while also respecting sensitivity of some topics and was able to provide humor where needed.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good coverage from many angles, including the dark side involving abusive relationships. Thought it was going to be very biologically based but even brought in a lot of psychology, such as attachment theory. Would be a one-time read for me.

[Bárbara Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by the information from this book. Other that the fact that disagree with a couple of things and that the term <> is absolutely unacceptable to me… Every thing else was great. Very educational.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an overview of the psychological literature of love. I enjoy exploring research studies and outcomes, so this was a fun listen.

[Kelly (Struggling Bookaholic) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well-done, interesting, and clear!

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this I already knew but I did enjoy the analytical perspective. I appreciate the writers tone and smoothness when transitioning between topics.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An effective summary or review of many topics that I have read about in greater depth in other books. Does not offer anything new or thought-provoking.

[Muhammed Hebala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not like it at all

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly normal love/relationship advice - just with an academic bent. Nothing earth-shattering but still interesting.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Would read more by this author

[Vojtěch Tatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, understandable, up to date. Nice narration given how other Great Courses sometimes is. Well rounded with points out for more reads.

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly insightful, though I wish it was a bit longer

[Nicole Geub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information. And narrated really well.

[Yasemin Gyford · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very good listen.

[Olivia (ebooklivv) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 very interesting

[Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good intro to a lot of topics. I'll delve deeper into some topics.

[Serena S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fairly interesting and the voice of the narrator and author added spunk to the audiobook that made it more engaging

[Asami · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative lecture series examining relationships and attraction through the lens of biology, psychology and anthropology.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not of tons of new information.

[Jacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging and compelling audiobook about what science teaches us about romantic relationships, and how we can use these findings to foster successful relationships.

[عدنان العبار · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think the author has anything good to offer, nor is there anything original in this book. There is too much desire to "include" homosexuals and the LGBTQI+ community that it waxes as something close to fake. Listening to Sondheim will assure any man that homosexual and heterosexual loves are strong and reasonable and almost equivalent loves between two rational human beings, albeit one without progeny. In other places, the book relies on extremely shaky experiments, even though the results to a large degree are believable (which is a problem in the social sciences more than it is an error of the author). But all in all, there's little interest to be found in this book.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few lulls in this one but overall there was much insightful information included in this audiobook.