They say that Latinos are lucky to have two phrases to express affection towards others: ‘I love you’ and ‘I love you’, as opposed to ‘I love you’ of the North Americans. And it is that, according to those who comment on this detail, these feelings are not the same, because talking regarding love is a more serious matter.
They are not wrong. Psychology experts comment that it is important to know how to differentiate between the two emotions, because, if not, there may be room for confusion and broken hearts.
How do you explain from online psychology, love is one of the most complex feelings to understand, because of its intensity, because of the unique way in which it is presented in each individual and because of all the physical and mental reactions that living it implies. Erroneously, specifies the aforementioned portal, there is a tendency to think that any action of sympathy or affection of others is a reflection of love, when this is not always the case.
Despite sharing some other characteristic in common, and although affection is inherent to love, each of these expressions produce different sensations, expresses the portal Psychology and Mind.
Affection is understood as a feeling that is characterized by wanting the well-being of the other and sharing a pleasant time together, but it does not have the intensity that is so typical of love.
For its part, love, in its complexity, expresses itself in multiple ways, being even more intense, beyond mere wanting. According to the portal Psychology and Mind, there is more than one kind of love: romantic, paternal, sibling, among others. When referring to the first type, one of the characteristics that stands out is the desire to remain united at all times.
After these brief definitions, a first difference between both emotions is clear: intensity. In addition to this aspect, affection and love are far from each other due to the type of bond that is established between people.
According to portal experts The mind is wonderful a blog on topics related to psychology, generally the bond established with the person you love is deeper than the one between those who have a special affection for each other. While affection is usually associated more with friendship or companionship, love implies a greater relationship, intimacy, connection and trust.
The differences are also expressed by the organism, since these feelings do not provoke the same internal reactions. In this sense, the blog of online psychology He specifies that intensity is not only noticeable in the way love is shown and experienced, but also in the response generated by the body to this stimulus.
Thus, between people in love, oxytocin, known as the hormone of love, dopamine and serotonin are released, which favor a feeling of well-being, happiness and emotion for being with the other person. Reactions that are not easy to equalize or, rather, that do not happen with just anyone, no matter how much you love them.
Therefore, the behavior is not the same when love is felt than when affection is felt, since the displays of affection are not equated with the gestures that are born naturally as a result of love.
That is the point on which the experts draw attention when forming a couple relationship, with a view to the future. As they underline from the aforementioned portal, although love implies affection, affection does not always lead to love, and expecting it to be so can cause wounds.
exactly the blog The mind is wonderful mentions that to understand this difference it can be useful to ask yourself if you might marry someone for whom you only feel affection or sympathy.