Origins of Attraction: Biological/Cognitive

Origins of Attraction

Cognitive

People are attracted to similar people - similar in age, social class, personality, religion, cultural background, education, intelligence, physical attractiveness, and attitudes.

Attraction Similarity Model- individuals have beliefs about relationships and tend to see friends and partners as similar to selves, attraction predicts similarity prediction which leads to psychological benefits

Relationships dependent on perception of rewards and costs

Helping a partner= self enhancement

Markey et al. (2007) young people tended to describe their ideal partner as similar to themselves

Feedback that matches own self-concepts = self verification

• Biological

A characteristic symptom of romantic love is "obsession"

chemical cocktail

• Dopamine
• Adrenaline
• Serotonin (Fisher 2004)

Adrenaline- heart race, palms sweat, mouth goes dry

Let's not forget that adrenaline is a stress hormone. An increase levels of this hormone results in high energy, less need for sleep and food, and more focused attention on potential mate

Serotonin may explain better focus

Marazziti et. al (1999) - analyzed blood samples, found that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels found in people with OCD

Fischer (2003)- increased activity in brain’s reward system when madly in love

Attachment is moving from passionate love (obsession and ecstasy) to a more intimate relationship (comfort, security, and relatedness)

Oxytocin- hormone released in touching and sex, deepens feelings of attachment

Vasopressin- released during sex, important role in male attachment and mating behavior

Evolution

• Buss (1996)- women’s patterns of jealousy vary through menstrual cycle
• Menstruation- oestrogen levels low, more sexually jealous (can’t mate)
• Ovulation- oestrogen high, more emotionally jealous (fears male will seek other emotional attachment)

Low (1990)- correlation between the number of parasites the population is exposed to and the degree of polygyny.

• more pathogen stress= more polygyny
• symmetrical features are consider attractive, indicates healthy adolescence

The

Cognitive and Biological Aspect...

Davis and Rusbult (2001)- attraction fosters similarity, attitude alignment

Shared interests attract people- Byrne (1971)- support for one’s views is rewarding and validates opinions and boosts self-esteem

Researcher:

http://www.wolfescience.com/byojeopardy/#

#26217

Roles of Hormones in Bonding

Romantic love is not an emotion, rather a motivation system for mating

In her book, 'Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love'

Thesis: Romantic love is hardwired into our brains by millions of years of evolution.

Romantic love is not an emotion, rather a motivation system for mating.

... small

Big and....

Wedekind (1995)- tested the role of immune system genes

• MHC gene codominate for immune system
• Beneficial for evolution to breed with people with different MHC levels than self
• greater antigen diversity