Storge

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title: "Storge" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ancient-greek-philosophical-concepts", "family", "love"] description: "Familial love, natural or instinctual affection to one such as a family member" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storge" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Familial love, natural or instinctual affection to one such as a family member ::

Storge ( ; ), 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.

Extent

Storge is a wide-ranging force which can apply between family members, friends, pets and their owners, |last1 = Bodson |first1 = Liliane |editor-last1 = Podberscek |editor-first1 = Anthony L. |editor-last2 = Paul |editor-first2 = Elizabeth S. |editor-last3 = Serpell |editor-first3 = James A. |editor-link3 = James Serpell |date = 21 July 2005 |orig-date = 2000 |chapter = Motivations for pet-keeping in Ancient Greece and Rome: a preliminary survey |title = Companion animals and us: exploring the relationships between people and pets |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tSs2yV_F4n0C |edition = reprint, revised |publisher = Cambridge University Press |page = 35 |isbn = 9780521017718 |access-date = 17 March 2025 |quote = [...] the feeelings identified by the owner in his or her animal were called . This term, literally 'affection', acquired the meaning 'filial' or 'brotherly affection' when applied to children (and 'parental affection' if applied to parents). In the context of pet-keeping, it compared the animals' attitudes towards their masters to the affection either of children towards their parents, or of sisters and brothers towards each other. companions or colleagues. Love of a country, of a nation, or of a sports team may count as storge. |last1 = Vareekal |first1 = George |date = 28 March 2022 |title = Aspects of Romantic Love: Perceptions on Love and Marriage |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BhFlEAAAQBAJ |publisher = Notion Press |isbn = 9798885554138 |access-date = 17 March 2025 |quote = Storge is love related to familiarity, dependence and relationship. The love that exists petween parents and children and among childhood friends and companions, love for a particular country, people, or a cricket or football team etc. are examples of Storge.

Storge can blend with and help underpin other types of ties such as passionate love or friendship. Thus "storge" may function as a general term to characterize the love between exceptional friends, and their desire to care compassionately for one another.

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. Storgic lovers are friends first; the friendship and the storge can endure even beyond the breakup of the relationship. They want their significant others also to be their best friends. They will choose their mates based on similar goals and interests—homogamy. 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, while passionate sexual intensity is of lesser importance than in other love styles.

Advantages

The advantages of storgic love may be how much storgic lovers love their own families and understand each other. In addition, two people who are deeply devoted to one another can feel the intimacy that they share.

References

References

1. {{cite Collins Dictionary. storge
2. Hooper, Walter. (1996). "C. S. Lewis: A Companion & Guide".
3. (2008). "Human sexuality: diversity in contemporary America". McGraw-Hill.
4. Hooper, p. 370.
5. B. Strong et al., ''The Marriage and Family Experience'' (2010) p. 150.
6. ''Family Experience'' p. 149
7. C. Gottschalk, ''How to Heal After Heartbreak'' (2013) p. 252
8. J. S. Greenberg, ''Empowering Health Decisions'' (2013) p. 234
9. Gottschalk, p. 252

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::