Love comes in many shapes and sizes—from romantic love to the love between friends and family, to a loving culture in schools and beyond. Sustaining our loving relationships involves many skills that are also good for our own well-being, like gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness.

Luckily, human beings are wired for love—from the neurons in our brains to the hormones in our bodies to the touch receptors in our skin. With that in mind, we hope these resources inspire you to reach out to someone important to you. You know that little moment of warmth you feel when you connect with someone? According to researcher Barbara Fredrickson, that’s love.

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Romantic love
Pain and pitfalls in love
Love and friendship
Loving families
Love in schools, society, and beyond
Love in the body

Romantic love

• How Relationship Satisfaction Changes Across Your Lifetime: Our romantic happiness goes through normal ups and downs as we get older—and we’re least happy around age 40, a new study finds.
• 10 Pillars of a Strong Relationship: Many of the keys to a satisfying, lasting bond are probably already present in your relationship.
• How to Keep Love Alive: After more than a decade together, our podcast guest tries to bring the spark back into her marriage.
• How Science Can Help Your Love to Last: Two relationship experts explain how to foster positive feelings and overcome challenges for a long-lasting relationship. 
• How to Fall in Love With Anyone: Can 36 questions help you fall in love—and stay in love? Bestselling author Kelly Corrigan tries a research-proven technique to feel closer to her husband. Plus, we learn how the same technique can actually reduce racism and prejudice.
• Four Keys to Building a Love That Lasts: Taking cues from positive psychology research can help us avoid the pitfalls of long-term relationships and maintain happier, healthier partnerships.
• Four Ways to Make the Most of Gratitude on Valentine’s Day: Whether February 14th is your first Valentine’s Day together or your 35th, it’s a great excuse to show gratitude for the one you love.
• Five Ways to Renew an Old Love: Love is fleeting, says one of the world’s leading experts on positive emotion. But with practice, you can foster love anytime you wish—and, in doing so, renew old bonds.

Pain and pitfalls in love

Love and friendship

Loving families

Love in schools, society, and beyond

Love in the body

• Is Oxytocin Really the Love Hormone?: New research with prairie voles questions the idea that oxytocin is the driver of romantic attachment and good parenting.
• Moments of Love and Connection May Help You Live Longer: A new study finds that couples who show more warmth, concern, and affection for each other live longer, healthier lives.
• How Biology Prepares Us for Love and Connection: Our brains and bodies are wired for empathy, cooperation, generosity, and connection.
• What’s Love Got to Do with the Brain?: Poems and pop songs have a lot to say about love. But is it all nonsense? Helen Fisher looks at lyrics through a scientific lens. 
• Five Surprising Ways Oxytocin Shapes Your Social Life: New research is finding that oxytocin doesn’t just bond us to mothers, lovers, and friends—it also seems to play a role in excluding others from that bond. 
• How Love Grows in Your Body: Here are the places where romantic love abides in our bodies—and the role each one plays in sustaining love over time.
• Born to Love: Our body equips us with some natural and powerful aphrodisiacs, writes Helen Fisher, along with the tools to make romance last.