Key Learning Points: Agape (Greek Noun) means a sense of selfless and unconditional love that encapsulates a deep sense of supportive care for others.
Agape
Agape is a noun derived from ancient Greek. It describes a sense of selfless and unconditional love and a deep sense of supportive care for others.
Its origins are often linked to early Greek philosophers including Aristotle, as well as early Christian writers, and it’s increasingly being studied in neuroscience and other fields due to its association with individual and group wellbeing. It’s often associated with altruism and wellbeing.
Why Should We Care?
Professionals in different fields including psychology and neuroscience are increasingly interested in the experience and impacts of agape and there is a strong view that it contributes very positively to individual and collective wellbeing. We know from lots of studies (and we cover this elsewhere) that undertaking actions of kindness and engaging in unconditional loving acts towards others can improve an individuals wellbeing and emotional health and reduce their stress.
It seems that from a neurobiological perspective, these acts of kindness release oxytocin and endorphins, which are known to elevate mood and create a sense of pleasure. Interestingly, it seems that agape also stimulates the pre-frontal cortex (associated with decision making, rational thought, empathy and social behaviour), which can heighten both the sense of social connectedness and an individual’s emotional regulation. Furthermore, it also stimulates the vagus nerve, reducing stress and promoting relaxation. This is all clearly great and contributes to better physical and mental health.
As we mention elsewhere, some of the findings from the world of neuroscience overlap with and support practices from several areas of care provision, self-care and some spiritual practices. In this instance, the principles of agape align with modern therapeutic practices such as mindfulness and compassion-focused therapy. These approaches encourage individuals to cultivate kindness and compassion towards themselves and others, leading to improved mental health outcomes.
Learning More
This is all still a bit new to us, so we’re still learning about it. That said, we know that the charity Mind in the UK has done some work that explores the benefits of undertaking acts of kindness, so probably worth exploring.
The place where we have actually learned most about agape so far is from John Vervaeke’s lecture series / podcast “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” (link is to youtube).
Our View
We talk a lot about the importance and power of connection, understanding and kindness and we think that agape is a great word for the experiences that sit at the center of this nexus. As a highly social species, it makes evolutionary sense that we would have reward mechanisms associated with socially beneficial acts. It looks like there is experiential and neuro-scientific evidence to back this up.
How We Help Organizations
We provide leadership development programmes and consulting services to clients around the world to help them become high performing organizations that are great places to work. We receive great feedback, build meaningful and lasting relationships and provide reduced cost services where price is a barrier.
Learning more about who we are and what we do it easy: To hear from us, please join our mailing list. To ask about how we can help you or your organization, please contact us. To explore topics we care about, listen to our podcast. To attend a free seminar, please check out our eventbrite page.
We’re also considering creating a community for people interested in improving the world of work. If you’d like to be part of it, please contact us.
Sources and Feedback
There is a lot to read and learn around this subject, but our starting point was John Vervaeke’s lecture series / podcast “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” (link is to youtube).
We’re a small organization who know we make mistakes and want to improve them. Please contact us with any feedback you have on this post. We’ll usually reply within 72 hours.