Maternal love is the first type of love we experience in our lives.
However, according to psychologist Robert Sternberg, the concept of love is a triangle that is made up of three components and 7 different kinds of love:
The 3 components
Intimacy: which involves feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness
Passion: which refers to drives that lead to physical attraction, romance and sexual consummation.
Decision/commitment: which refers to the decision that one loves his partner and lead a person to remain in the relationship and move toward shared goals.
The 7 different kinds of love
Friendship: there is intimacy without any erotic passion or long-term commitment.
Infatuation: characterized by feelings of lust and physical passion, lacking intimacy and commitment.
Empty love: characterized by commitment without passion or intimacy.
Romantic love: there is intimacy and physical passion but commitment is still undecided.
Companionate love: there is intimacy and a long-term commitment but minimal or no sexual desire.
Fatuous love: a commitment based mainly on passion but lacking intimacy.
Consummate love: it represents the "ideal" relationship with all three components; intimacy, passion and commitment.
Although all three components are required for an ideal relationship, the amount of each component can differ from relationship to relationship and from time to time. Noticing the way the components interact will give you a chance to highlight areas that may need improvement.