Research on Altruism & Love

Research on Altruism and Love is a compendium of annotated bibliographies reviewing literature and research studies on the nature of love. Organized into four listings, each represents a distinct area of study in this emerging academic discipline. A section on religious love and its interaction with science presents both classical and contemporary literature related to the science-and-love issues or supporting literature from the perspective of religion. Listings on personality and altruism provide a broad overview of the literature concerning characteristics associated with altruism, such as personality, gender, and socio-demographics. An area on evolutionary biology presents the most significant works on altruism and love in the field of evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. Finally, a section on the sociology of volunteer behavior focuses on the connections between helping behavior and religious organizations, including general voluntary associations. Profiles of lives ennobled by purpose further illustrate how and why people express unselfish love. Their examples offer hope for a future in which the positive side of human behavior is expressed, steering us away from bitterness, hatred, and violence. Book jacket.