Storge

Storge pronounced: /ˈstɔrɡi/,Collins English Dictionary from the Ancient Greek word στοργή storgēWalter Hooper, C. S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide (1996) p. 369-70) or familial love refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards offspring and vice versa.
In social psychology, another term for love between good friends is philia.
== Extensiveness ==
Storge is a wide-ranging force which can apply between family members, friends, pets and owners, companions or colleagues; it can also blend with and help underpin other types of tie such as passionate love or friendship.Hooper, p. 370
Thus storge may be used as a general term to describe the love between exceptional friends, and the desire for them to care compassionately for one another.B. Strong et al., The Marriage and Family Experience (2010) p. 150
== Storge love ==
Sometimes the term is used to refer to the love between married partners who are committed and plan to have a long relationship together, particularly as a fundamental relational foundation after initial infatuation (limerence)
Another interpretation for storge is to be used to describe a sexual relationship between two people that gradually grew out of a friendship—storgic lovers sometimes cannot pinpoint the moment that friendship turned to love.Family Experience p. 149 Storgic lovers are friends first, and the friendship, and the storge, can endure even beyond the breakup of the sexual relationship. They want their significant others to also be their best friends, and will choose their mates based on similar goals and interests—homogamy.C. Gottschalk, How to Heal After Heartbreak (2013) p. 252 Storgic lovers place much importance on commitment, and find that their motivation to avoid committing infidelity is to preserve the trust between the two partners. Children and marriage are seen as legitimate long-term aims for their bond,J. S. Greenberg, Empowering Health Decisions (2013) p. 234 while passionate sexual intensity is of lesser importance than in other love styles.Gottschalk, p. 252
== Advantages ==
Advantages of storgic love may be the level of how one loves their family and understands each other. In addition, two people who are deeply devoted to one another can feel the intimacy that they share.
The main disadvantages of storgic love may be the large time investment and the loss of that investment if the friendship ends.
== References ==
== Further reading ==
* Lee JA (1973). The colors of love: an exploration of the ways of loving.
* Lee JA (1988). "Love styles" in Barnes MH, Sternberg RJ. The psychology of love.
* Lewis CS (1960). The four loves.
* Wood JT (2009). Interpersonal communication: everyday encounters.
Category:Greek loanwords
Category:Philosophy