Affection

"Public Affection" redirects here. For the band formerly known as Public Affection, see Live (band).
For other uses, see Affection (disambiguation).
A kiss on the cheek, forehead, nose, mouth or lips expresses affection.

Affection, attraction, infatuation, or fondness is a "disposition or rare state of mind or body"[1] that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning emotion, disease, influence, and state of being.[2] "Affection" is popularly used to denote a feeling or type of love, amounting to more than goodwill or friendship. Writers on ethics generally use the word to refer to distinct states of feeling, both lasting and spasmodic. Some contrast it with passion as being free from the distinctively sensual element.

A simple expression of affection -through word or deed – can have a wide variety of emotional effects that range from joy to discomfort to outright fear. In fact, affection also has distinct physical effects – both for the receiver and the giver.[3]

Restricted definition

More specifically, the word has been restricted to emotional states, the object of which is a living thing such as a human or animal. Affection is compared with passion, from the Greek "pathos". As such it appears in the writings of French philosopher René Descartes, Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and most of the writings of early British ethicists. However, on various grounds (e.g., that it does not involve anxiety or excitement and that it is comparatively inert and compatible with the entire absence of the sensuous element), it is generally and usefully distinguished from passion. In this narrower sense the word has played a great part in ethical systems, which have spoken of the social or parental affections as in some sense a part of moral obligation. For a consideration of these and similar problems, which depend ultimately on the degree in which the affections are regarded as voluntary, see H. Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics pp. 345–349.

Expression

Further information: Public display of affection

Affection can be communicated by words, gestures, or touches. Affectionate behavior may have evolved from parental nurturing behavior due to its associations with hormonal rewards.[4] Such affection has been shown to influence brain development in infants.[5] Expressions of affection can be unwelcome if they pose implied threats to one's well being. If welcomed, affectionate behavior may be associated with various health benefits. It has been proposed that positive sentiment increases the propensity of people to interact and that familiarity gained through affection increases positive sentiment among them.[6]

Affection can be displayed in different manners in different cultural societies. For example, in the Manchu ethnic group, mothers publicly kissing their infant is viewed as inappropriate, while publicly performing fellatio on their infant son is considered an appropriate act of affection.[7][8][9][10][11]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ affection - Definitions from Dictionary.com
  2. ↑ 17th and 18th Century Theories of Emotions > Francis Hutcheson on the Emotions (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  3. ↑ "The Effects of Affection | Research Matters". researchmatters.asu.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
  4. ↑ according to Communication professor Kory Floyd of the University of Arizona
  5. ↑ Infant Observation: International Journal of Infant Observation and Its Applications
  6. ↑ http://www.techsociety.com/articles/JMF_Lawtonetal.pdf
  7. ↑ Clarke, John R. (2001). Looking at Lovemaking (1st paperback print ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-520-22904-4. In the Manchu tribe, a mother will routinely suck her small son's penis in public but would never kiss his cheeks. Among adults, the Manchu believe, fellatio is a sexual act, but kissing—even between mother and infant son—is always a sexual act, and thus fellation becomes the proper display of motherly affection.
  8. ↑ Barre, Weston La (1975). "The Cultural Basis of Emotions and Gestures". In Davis, Martha. Anthropological Perspectives of Movement. Arno Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-405-06201-8. Manchu kissing is purely a private sexual act, and though husband and wife or lovers might kiss each other, they would do it stealthily since it is shameful to do ... yet Manchu mothers have the pattern of putting the penis of the baby boy into their mouths, a practice which probably shocks Westerners even more than kissing in public shocks the Manchu.
  9. ↑ Barre, Weston La (1974). "The Cultural Basis of Emotions and Gestures". In Starr, Jerold M. Social structure and social personality. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 79.
  10. ↑ Halperin, David M.; Winkler, John J.; Zeitlin, Froma I. (1990). Before Sexuality. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-691-00221-7.
  11. ↑ Walls, Neal (2001). Desire, Discord and Death. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-89757-056-5.

Sources

Further reading

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Affection.
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