Unanswered Questions of Attraction

The moment you meet someone of your liking, it is not unusual to feel an overwhelming draw toward that person. The spark, or shock wave, that streams through your body is caused by a little thing called attraction.

The question of why certain people trigger such reactions remains a mystery, but researchers continue to study unanswered questions of attraction in hopes of deepening the understanding of the mysterious topic of romantic love.

The first thing to emphasize is the brain chemistry behind attraction. As it turns out, neurotransmitters play a crucial role when falling in "like."

"When two people are attracted to each other, the brain becomes flooded with a gush of neurotransmitters," said Kelly Welch, assistant professor of family studies and human science. "The neurotransmitter culprits are dopamine, which makes us feel good, norepinephrine, which causes pounding hearts and racing pulses, and pulseless electric activity, rumored to promote infatuation between lovers."

Though a throbbing heart and bodily sensations are sure indicators that chemical brain activity is occurring, there is much more to attraction. Physical appeal, as many would predict, is the groundwork for a romantic relationship.
There is always the initial attraction between two people, where men are more drawn to physical appearance, while women put more emphasis on social status, said Gary Brase, associate professor of psychology.

While Welch said women are often more attracted to men of average size rather than muscular men, Brase said men have a certain consistency in their attraction to women. For example, characteristics associated with youth, clean skin and facial symmetry are all consistent qualities that men tend to be attracted to.

"The only thing that varies between decades and cultures is body mass index," he said. "If there is a harsh environment where food is scarce, thicker individuals suddenly become more attractive."
Some believe physical appeal plays a pivotal role in what causes individuals to be attracted to one another, but as science would suggest, there is both a biological and psychological explanation for the attraction.

Evolutionary theories on mate selection and attraction tie back to our early ancestors, and mate attraction is based on the sole purpose of reproductive efforts, Welch said. Men and women differ in ways to seek out mates.

"When seeking mates, men look for fertility cues, such as youth and curves - full breasts, small waist, curvy hips - because they associate these traits with fertility," she said. "But women look for someone who can contribute positive genetic traits, such as intelligence and good looks, but they also tend to seek out a mate who possesses protector and provider cues, such as physical strength and ambition."

Two ideas behind attraction that are less biological and more psychological are based on the belief that we, as humans, select mates similar to ourselves.

When people tend to date other people who are phenotypically alike, Brase said, that is called assortative mating. Meaning, people with certain characteristics are attracted to those specific qualities in others. For example, intelligent people are more likely to date other intelligent people, and tall people might be drawn to people of a similar height.

Similarly, the "social exchange" theory centers on the different filters we use when it comes to partner selection, such as narrowing the dating pool of eligible partner candidates to select someone who is most similar to us, Welch said.

"Through our filters, we consider such things as age, race and ethnicity, religious views, physical attraction, and whether we think that person will reciprocate our feelings. If we think our rewards outweigh our costs - what we have to offer - we select that particular mate."

While no theory confirms that every individual belongs to one of these "types," people around the world may be more predictable than we let ourselves believe.
"The Surma people of southwest Ethiopia engage in an annual courtship ritual where hundreds of men join together to fight for the available women. To woo a potential bride, the men engage in a mock display of violence.

In African cultures, women pad their behinds to make their hips looks as large and curvy as possible," Welch said. "Evolutionists would argue that the world over, we all look for the same thing - reproductive promise and protector or provider cues."