Among the modern theories of love that have received scholarly attention are those advanced by Sigmund Freud, Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, and Robert Sternberg, Freud viewed love as a necessary expression of the basic sexual energy drive that, in his view, motivates all human beings. Whether it is directed at parents, friends, or lovers, Freud contended, love is always a manifestation of sexual tension. The psychologist Abraham Maslow discerned two types of love: one based on selfish need and taking (he called this D-love, that is, “deficiency love”) and one based on unselfish giving (Maslow termed this B-love, which is, “being love”). Implicit in Sternberg’s theory is the idea that love relationships cannot be taken for granted or justified solely because they “feel good.” Like most other contemporary thinkers on the subject, he believes that a satisfying love relationship is not something that “happens” to a couple; it is something they make happen.


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