November 21, 2016
Interview with Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, author of the book Love 2.0
Mike Carruthers:
When we feel love towards someone what is that emotion exactly – is it something that comes over time?
Dr. Barbara Fredrickson:
Well, love does come over time and yet it’s built up over time through these micro-moments of shared positive emotion – the shared positive emotions that we feel with others.
Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, author of the book Love 2.0
And I think this way of looking at love of shared micro-moments of positive connection helps you when love relationships become difficult. We can try to make them stronger and healthier by sharing more micro-moments of positivity.
So what is a micro-moment of positivity?
I think it’s anytime that you’re face-to-face or even connected by voice and you know you’re attending to one another and connecting and you feel safe. So those are some of the preconditions for love. I argue that love is not unconditional because it depends upon whether you feel safe and whether you’re connected.
And when you are connected over a shared positive moment…
Something really remarkable is happening across 2 brains and bodies at once. People start to show this synchrony of activity and movement that really suggests that they are joining up. And that comes with the sense of mutual care. So those moments are the ones that tie us to community and our most important relationships.
