Is there love at first sight? This says science

The idea is wonderfully romantic: two strangers look "through a room full of people", there is an instant attraction, a spark jumps and ... suddenly they feel that they have found someone special. Is love possible at first sight? New scientific evidence suggests that it does exist.

In a world where dating often requires a lot of effort - usually accompanied by disappointment, rejection, and uncertainty -  falling in love at first sight has great appeal.

Around us we are sure we know many stories that fit with love at first sight. A study carried out in 2004 (E. Naumann) suggested that approximately 60% of people have ever experienced it. But was it really love at first sight?

Scientists seldom empirically study love at first sight, but new research conducted in the Netherlands offers evidence to support this phenomenon. The experts asked almost 400 men and women to complete surveys of potential romantic partners immediately after meeting with these people for the first time.

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This included indicating their agreement with the statement, "I am experiencing love at first sight with this person," as well as reporting how physically attractive they were to the person in question and how much passion (ie, sexual attraction) they felt upon seeing it... The data collection was dispersed in three contexts: online; in the lab (where photos of potential partners were shown  ); and in person (where people saw each other face to face). These were the results:

1. Love at first sight is not a memory bias

We experience love at first sight in the instant we meet a person. It is a strong initial attraction that could later become a relationship. The argument of biased memories, creating the illusion of having fallen in love with each other instantly, is not an appropriate explanation for all cases of love at first sight.

2. It is more likely to feel love at first sight with beautiful people

In this study, participants were more likely to report having experienced love at first sight with physically attractive people; in fact, a higher attractive rating on the scale used by the researchers corresponded to 9 times higher probability that others would report that electric sensation of love at first sight.

3. Men feel love at first sight more often than women

Researchers are not sure why this happens, but it demands more research. Could women be less inclined to this experience because they are more selective, as other studies have shown?

EVERYTHING?

4. Love at first sight is not usually mutual.

A comparison of the reports of the participants showed that, in general, it is a unilateral phenomenon; This suggests that instant shared love is not very common. The researchers suspect, however, that a partner's intense initial experience could help shape the other person's memory, shifting it to the belief that he or she also experienced love at first sight.

5. Love at first sight is not really "love"

The kind of qualities that are known to reflect love, intimacy, commitment, passion, is

not particularly strong in the first moments when people say they fell in love at first sight. At least, these emotions are not experienced to the same extent as people with established relationships do.

In summary, science favors romantics. Love at first sight exists, but it is not so much " love " or "passion", but a strong attraction that causes people to be particularly open to the possibilities of a relationship. read more....