What's Love Got to Do with It?

Thomas J. Scheff is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Being Mentally Ill (Aldine, 1999), Microsociology (University of Chicago Press, 1994), Bloody Revenge (Backinprint.com, 2000), Emotions and the Social Bond (Cambridge University Press, 1997), other books, articles, and chapters on social psychology, bonds, emotions, and large scale conflict. His current projects include books on human bonds and on interpersonal communication. He is trying to become a generalist, but it is difficult to overcome bad habits. Still more he would like to be funny, but that seems out of reach.

“The great strength of the book lies in the simple idea that popular media provide the psychological pulse of a culture in a way that has the potential to reflect enduring truths about human nature. Such media content in analysis is rare in psychology (cf. DeWall et al., 2011) but has great potential…We thank Scheff for reminding us that love is all around us – love is in the airwaves.” —Contemporary Psychology Vol. 57, Release 20

• Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Conceptions of Love; Chapter 3 Emotion Languages; Chapter 4 Alienation in Top 40 Songs 1930-2000; Chapter 5 Nobody Knows but Me; Chapter 6 Genuine Love and Connectedness; Chapter 7 What Emotion is the Shadow of Love?; Chapter 8 The Beat Goes on; Chapter 9 Afterword;