Sandra Langeslag is a Dutch

cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

who studies

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a Interpersonal attraction, strong attraction towards another person, and the Courtship, courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant ...

. Langeslag is the director of the Neurocognition of Emotion and Motivation Lab at the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

. She received her PhD from

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Studies by Langeslag using

EEG Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The bio signals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neoc ...

have demonstrated that self-regulating love feelings is possible, especially through a task called cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal involves focusing on positive or negative aspects of the partner to change how one feels. A 2012 experiment by Langeslag also contradicted a long-running hypothesis in love research which supposed that

intrusive thoughts An intrusive thought is an unwelcome, involuntary thought, image, or unpleasant idea that may become an obsession, is upsetting or distressing, and can feel difficult to manage or eliminate. When such thoughts are paired with obsessive–compulsi ...

during early-stage romantic love might be caused by decreased

serotonin Serotonin (), also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a monoamine neurotransmitter with a wide range of functions in both the central nervous system (CNS) and also peripheral tissues. It is involved in mood, cognition, reward, learning, ...

levels. Her experiment found that serotonin levels were differently affected in men and women, and that obsessive thinking in women was actually associated with an increase in serotonin.

Infatuation and attachment

A 2012 study by Langeslag and others determined that while the Passionate Love Scale is a commonly used instrument to measure passionate love, some of the questions actually measure companionate love as well. She developed a new questionnaire, the Infatuation and Attachment Scales (IAS), to measure slightly different constructs, which she refers to as infatuation and attachment:

Infatuation is the overwhelming, amorous feeling for one individual that is typically most intense during the early stage of love (i.e., when individuals are not (yet) in a relationship with their beloved or are in a new relationship). Attachment, on the other hand, is the comforting feeling of emotional bonding with another individual that takes some time to develop, often in the context of a romantic relationship.

Love regulation

Langeslag studies love regulation, "the use of behavioral or cognitive strategies to change the intensity of current feelings of romantic love." Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy where one focuses on positive or negative aspects of e.g. the partner, the relationship or imagined future scenarios: * In ''negative'' reappraisal, one focuses on negative qualities of the beloved ("he's lazy", "she's always late"), the relationship ("we fight a lot") or imagined future scenarios ("he'll cheat on me"). Negative reappraisal decreases feelings of infatuation and attachment, but decreases mood in the short term. Langeslag has recommended distraction as an antidote to the short-term decrease in mood. * In ''positive'' reappraisal, one focuses on positive qualities of the beloved ("he's kind", "she's spontaneous"), the relationship ("we have so much fun together") or imagined future scenarios ("we'll live happily ever after"). Positive reappraisal increases attachment and can increase relationship satisfaction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langeslag, Sandra Living people Dutch psychologists Dutch women psychologists Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Year of birth missing (living people)