Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-pjp64 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-30T04:37:23.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Extending the motivational model of love: A Goal-Directed Predictive Processing perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2026

Pieter Van Dessel Open the ORCID record for Pieter Van Dessel [Opens in a new window]  and
Yannick Boddez
Pieter Van Dessel*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Pieter.VanDessel@UGent.be https://pvandessel.ugent.be/
Yannick Boddez
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Pieter.VanDessel@UGent.be https://pvandessel.ugent.be/
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We extend Kruglanski et al.’s model by embedding it within a Goal-Directed Predictive Processing framework. This perspective conceptualizes romantic love as arising from self-referential inferences tied to personal goals and reveals that love may include merit, appreciation, and significance, but is not defined or limited by them. It also explains love experiences that exceed the scope of the authors’ model.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e19
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Boddez, Y. (2018). The presence of your absence: A conditioning theory of grief. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 106, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.04.006 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, A. (2016). Surfing uncertainty: Prediction, action, and the embodied mind. Oxford Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Happ, Z., Bodó-Varga, Z., Bandi, S. A., Kiss, E. C., Nagy, L., & Csókási, K. (2023). How codependency affects dyadic coping, relationship perception and life satisfaction. Current Psychology, 42(18), 15688–15695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11, 127–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2787 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moors, A. (2022). Demystifying emotions: A typology of theories in psychology and philosophy. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moors, A., Boddez, Y., & De Houwer, J. (2017). The power of goal-directed processes in the causation of emotional and other actions. Emotion Review, 9(4), 310–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916669595 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parr, T., Pezzulo, G., & Friston, K. (2022). Active inference: The free energy principle in mind, brain, and behavior. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seth, A. K., & Friston, K. J. (2016). Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1708), 20160007. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0007 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swann, W. B. Jr, Chang-Schneider, C., & Angulo, S. (2008). Self-verification in relationships as an adaptive process. In Wood, J., Tesser, A., & Holmes, J. (Eds.), Self and relationships (pp. 49–72). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Van Dessel, P., & Boddez, Y. (2025). Theory-based intervention for transforming harmful behavior: The goal-directed predictive processing approach. OSF Preprints. https://osf.io/knfsd_v1 Google Scholar