PDF Version. Familiarity and similarity are powerful forces in our love attraction that can be influenced by genetic predisposition, imprinting, or by the “mere exposure effect.” They all have the same psychological mechanism of prototypicality. Despite our interest in novelty, … Continue reading
Category Archives: love attraction
Sexual Imprinting of Attraction and Love
PDF Version. The mechanism of imprinting plays an important role in shaping our sexual attraction and love preferences. I explain what “imprinting” is elsewhere. Early works by Konrad Lorenz (Lorenz, 1935) demonstrated that the early experiences of birds and animals … Continue reading
Imprinting of Love Attachment
PDF Version. We tend to perceive people who look familiar to us as more attractive than those who look unfamiliar. This is the familiarity principle that also guides our mating, sexual preferences, and love. The phenomenon of imprinting is at … Continue reading
Attraction to Familiar Others
PDF Version. Something familiar is frequently attractive to us, despite our interest in novelty. It is a persistent pattern of human perception and behavior, which is called the familiarity principle (Reis & Sprecher, 2009). The principle is rooted in the mere … Continue reading
Genetic Diversity and Genetic Sexual Attraction
PDF Version. Despite the importance of similarity in genetic sexual attraction, genetic diversity is equally important in love. It appears that both similarities and differences between love partners play important roles. Evolutionary Value of Genetic Diversity Genetic sexual attraction plays … Continue reading
Genetic Secrets of Love Attraction
PDF Version. From a biological evolutionary perspective, the genetic similarity must be important for sexual attraction. Intersexual attraction helps sexually dimorphic animals, such as birds and mammals, select a proper mate because they cannot reproduce offspring with anyone. They can … Continue reading