Why do we experience “butterflies” when interacting with someone we have romantic interest in?
The butterflies in the stomach sensation you get when you’re just falling in love is a result of your body releasing adrenaline. It’s closely related to our fight-or-flight response, letting us know something good or bad is about to happen.
True or False: People looking for short-term flings are more interested in the aesthetics of their partner’s face.
Research has shown that those looking for short-term flings tend to care more about their partner's body than their face. However, those looking for long-term relationships will take a nice face over a nice body.
If a marriage ends, it’s statistically most likely to happen after how long?
Most marriages around the world tend to end around the 4-year mark. The next big milestone? Year 8. Get through those two and it’s smooth sailing...
True or False: Most people find symmetrical faces more attractive.
Symmetry is how our brains judge beauty. A symmetrical faced man will begin having sex four years earlier, have more sex, affairs, and lovers than those with asymmetry in their faces.
The word Lesbian comes from...
The word Lesbian is derived from the Greek island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho composed her famous poems for her famous female lovers.
“Frustration Attraction” is a term used to refer to what phenomenon?
Getting dumped from a relationship will often lead to “frustration attraction,” which causes the person getting dumped to fall deeper in love with the person doing the dumping.
There is a condition that results in the inability to feel romantic love. This is called...
Some people are incapable of experiencing love. The condition is known as hypopituitarism.
Human sweat releases chemicals into the air, which are connected to attraction. These are called...
Historically, human sweat has been used to make love-attracting perfumes, and even love-potions. Sweat contains pheromones—a set of chemicals that are key ingredients in animal attraction.
Statistically speaking, which gender is more likely to say “I love you” in a romantic relationship?
For years, the default cultural stereotype (at least in Western culture) has been to paint women as the more emotional, and more invested, half of a heterosexual relationship. But the science doesn't back that up… Statistically, men are more likely to say “I love you” in a relationship than women.
On average, how much time does a man spend looking at women in his lifetime?
Over his lifetime, the average male will spend an entire year looking at women. To understand the enormity of that, remember there are 8760 hours in a year. Or 525 600 minutes. That is a long, long, long time.
True or False: Human beings are the only mammals who mate for life.
Though we’d like to think we’re unique from the rest of the animal kingdom, humans are far from the only animal to mate monogamously. Wolves, gibbons, albatrosses and even termites have been known to mate for life.
There are four types of love. They are...
The four types are: Romantic, Companionate, Fatuous, and Consummate.
Falling love produces a neurochemical response that is similar to…
The human brain reacts to romantic love almost exactly the way it reacts to cocaine.
True or False: Romantic couples make far less eye contact between each other than strangers would.
When two lovers stare into each other’s eyes, their heartbeats will synchronize after about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, other studies have shown that couples spend about 75% of a conversation making eye contact... as opposed to around 40% for an average non-romantic pair.
First impressions are important. On average, how long does it take for a person to decide if they are interested in someone they meet?
Researchers have shown that it takes just 4 minutes to decide whether or not you like someone.
True or False: Prolonged eye contact can bring about feelings of intimacy.
For whatever reason, eye contact is a massive factor in human intimacy. Maybe it isn't a huge mystery: researchers have shown that 80% of the information our brains process in a given moment is visual.
Research has shown that thinking of love influences creativity and abstract thoughts, as well as long-term planning. This theory is called...
Research has shown that thinking of love influences creativity and abstract thoughts, as well as long-term planning. The theory goes that the act of "psychological distancing" (thinking about something far in the past or in the future) causes to process problems differently, considering the impact of cause and effect. All of which is good for creativity.
The hormone levels of someone experiencing new love are similar to...
People in the early stages of love have lower levels of serotonin, which is associated with happiness levels, and higher levels of cortisol, which is associated with stress levels. These levels of cortisol and serotonin also share a striking similarity with those suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
True or False: Heartbreak can kill you.
Heartbreak is very real. When experiencing the loss of a loved one, divorce, or betrayal, the brain releases chemicals that weaken the heart, and result in chest pain and shortness of breath. The condition (broken heart syndrome) affects women more often, and can be misdiagnosed as a heart attack.
Very similar couples tend to...
Couples that are too similar tend to not last very long. The old adage opposites attract rings true, as researchers found that similarities will help form a foundation, but if both parties cannot learn from each other, they tend to part ways sooner rather than later.
Your Results
Good Lover
You’ve clearly been studying the art of love. Sure, a few of those questions got past you… but that’s because we made this as hard as humanly possible. And you still did pretty dang well. Good on you.
A True Casanova
Are you Dr. Love? It’s hard to believe that anyone could know so much about human attraction… unless you studied this in school or something. Whatever it is, there’s no doubt you’re an expert. It’s impressive. Well done.
Happy With Your Test Score? This video can help you do better on any quiz... even if you know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the topic.
Quiz
All you need to do is listen to essentially any song ever sung. Or book ever written. Or speak to anyone who's ever spent time in a happy marriage. The message is the same: love is what it's all about. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Humanity's smartest minds have spent entire lifetimes trying to understand this most basic of human needs. And yet it still confuses us. What about you, though? How well do you understand love? Time to find out...
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