Predictors of How Often and When People Fall in Love Clara & Peter

INTRODUCTION Romantic love is a universal, species-typical trait Love is an honest signal Signals social monogamy Variations are expected to occur among: age, sex and culture Is love really an honest signal?

Men are more likely to seek out many sexual partners. Therefore: – Women should be more skeptical of commitment – Men should be more likely to fall in love first to prove fidelity What are some evolutionary advantages of love? INTRODUCTION

HYPOTHESIS 1 Men fall in love more easily than do women Prediction: Men will… - fall in love first with most recent partner -love more individuals throughout lifetime -experienced more love at 1 st sight episodes -experience more cases of unreciprocated love What cultural differences could be expected? Any possibility for sexual role reversals?

Individuals who overperceive others sexual interest will report falling in love more frequently Prediction: Those who overpercieve will… -love more individuals throughout lifetime -experienced more love at 1 st sight episodes What other predictions could we make based on this hypothesis? HYPOTHESIS 2

Individuals who value physical attractiveness more in potential partners will fall in love more easily Prediction: Those who value attractiveness will… -love more individuals throughout lifetime -experienced more love at 1 st sight episodes -will have fallen in love first with most recent partner, especially if they were very attractive Why would nature favor those who valued attractiveness, to fall in love more easily? HYPOTHESIS 3

Individuals with a higher sex drive are more susceptible to falling in love Prediction: Those with a stronger sex drive will… -Fall in love more frequently -The association will be stronger for women Could individuals be confusing love with lust? HYPOTHESIS 4

Online questionnaire administered to heterosexual adults (n=357) Dependent measures (1-7 point scale): -Timing of love -Number of loves -Episodes of love at 1 st sight -Number of reciprocations -Attractiveness of recent partner What are some limitations of the procedural design? METHODS

Basic/Expected Patterns – Total lifetime loves (In both sexes) is + correlated with age and number of encounters with opposite sex. – Men attribute more importance to physical attractiveness. – Men display higher rates of overestimating sexual interest. What are some evolutionary benefits to men overestimating sexual interest? RESULTS

RESULTS (HYPOTHESIS 1) Prediction 1A: Unsupported – No sexual difference between time to fall in love Prediction 1B: Unsupported – No sex difference in reported number of loves Prediction 1C: Supported – Men reported higher rates of Love at First Sight Prediction 1D: Supported – Women are more likely to have a relationship with love-targets than men

Prediction 2A: Partially Supported – Men who overestimate sexual interest fall in love more quickly, but not so in Women – Evolutionarily supported for both sexes Prediction 2B: Unsupported – Sexual overperception was uncorrelated with reported number of loves at first sight Evolutionary benefit? RESULTS (HYPOTHESIS 2)

Prediction 3A: Unsupported – Importance of attractiveness uncorrelated with frequency of falling in love Counterintuitive? Shouldnt high standard of attractiveness limit opportunities? Prediction 3B: Unsupported – Importance of attractiveness uncorrelated with Love at first Sight Prediction 3C: Supported – Men likely to fall in love faster if attractiveness is important and partner is perceived to be highly attractive RESULTS (HYPOTHESIS 3)

Prediction: Individuals with a stronger sex drive are more susceptible to falling in love Partially Supported: – Sex drive positively predicts likelihood to fall in love, but only so in females. – Males demonstrated no significant effect Why might this be? RESULTS (HYPOTHESIS 4)

Findings and Implications – Men more willing to fall in love (Evolutionarily supported) More willing to label feelings as love? Socially reinforced behaviors? – Women increase fitness through evaluation, not opportunistic or immediate exposure like males – Reverse causation hypothesis Being prone to falling in love may lead to overperception? DISCUSSION

Confounds and questions – Little emphasis on Individual differences Free will or deterministic mechanism? (Does this describe you?) – Is love subjective? Experiences/definitions of love may greatly differ – Diametric approach too black and white? Shared qualities vs. stark differences DISCUSSION