• Question: How do we get attracted to somebody?

    Asked by karlaandtasha to Steve, Sam, Ed on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Steven Daly

      Steven Daly answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      That is a good question, and I really do not understand the reasons behind it in any detail at all. I think that it has something to do with finding someone who will give the best genes to a child. So people find healthy, strong (or clever!) people attractive more than other people. Although people do prefer different sorts of people, so it must be more complicated than that.

    • Photo: Ed Morrison

      Ed Morrison answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      The process of being attracted and being in love with someone consists of 3 stages.

      1. People become interested in finding a partner around puberty. This is because of the influence of sex hormones, especially testosterone, which acts to increase the amount of effort we put into finding a partner. Basically, testosterone makes us horny!

      2. When we find a suitable partner, perhaps someone with attractive features that suggest they have good genes, or a nice personality, we can experience falling in love. This is associated with high levels of a hormone called dopamine, and low levels of serotonin. The function of this stage is to focus our mating effort down to one individual.

      3. After the intense period of falling in love is over, we can form a longer-term attachment to a partner, associated with hormones like vasopressin. The function of this stage is to glue a couple together long enough to produce and look after children.

      There is a lot more I could write about this, but it would take several books!

    • Photo: Sam Tazzyman

      Sam Tazzyman answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Very interesting stuff, Ed! I wonder how much these hormones are also in evidence in animals at different stages of their courtship process.

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