Biological origins of
attraction
By Mr Daniel Hansson
Questions for discussion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is love? What is attraction?
How important is love?
Can you be happy without love? Does
love equate happiness?
If you wanted to, what can you do to
make people attracted to you?
Can you love more than one person at
the same time?
Theories, definitions and early
research on love (can be used in an
essay introduction)
Bowlby
 Harlow
 Sternberg
 Fischer

What is attraction?

The romantic desire
for a specific person
for mating

Develops out of lust
and commitment to
another individual
Biological origins of attraction


Effect of hormones
and
neurotransmission:
(E.g. oxytocin,
vasopresin, serotonin) on
bonding
Evolutionary origins of
attraction: Jealousy,
physical attractiveness,
female/male partner
preference
Examples of studies on biological
origins on attraction
Evolutionary: Buss (1979, 1996),
Wedekind (1995), Brehm (1992), Clarke &
Hatfield (1989)
 Effect of hormones and
neurotransmission: E.g. Mazaritti
(1999, 2004), Young et al. (2004)
 Neuroimaging studies: E.g. Fischer
(2003), Bartels & Zeki (2000)
