Nurturant Love and Caregiving Emotions

Abstract

Caregiving for one’s offspring and young kin facilitates the evolutionary goal of successful reproduction. In this chapter we define an emotional state of nurturant love, elicited by cues of cuteness and helplessness, which activates a suite of physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes facilitating caregiving toward the eliciting target. We review the literature pertaining to the elicitors and function of nurturant love, compare and contrast this emotion to other affective states that may promote caregiving, discuss empirical evidence regarding the properties and behavioral consequences of nurturant love, and conclude with potential future directions for research in this area.