Towards A Psychological Understanding of Unconditional Love

Abstract Excerpt: This thesis sought to develop a psychological understanding of unconditional love. Despite the prevalence of unconditional love and its associated benefits across different cultures and traditions, and within accounts of various expansive altered states of consciousness, there is currently no psychological construct of unconditional love. This research specifically sought to understand what the triggers, characteristics and impacts of unconditional love are, whether there is a relationship between unconditional love and awakening experiences, and whether experiences of unconditional love can be fully accounted for through physicalist conceptualisations of consciousness.