Psychological Facts About Human Behaviour In Love
If you’re looking to be surprised about the psychology of love, look no further than this list of interesting facts about love and relationships! At the end of this article, you’ll find that the love between two people isn’t all hearts and flowers – it’s also highly psychological and influenced by factors like biology, evolution, and even statistics! If you want to see if your relationship will last or are just interested in learning more about how human relationships work, check out these fun and surprising facts about love and then continue reading below to learn more!
8 Psychological Facts About Love That Will Surprise You
1) In 90% of cases, it’s all subconscious
We’re not consciously aware of our standards for love and what we’re looking for, but it doesn’t stop us from ending up with people who meet those standards, so to speak. In most cases, 90% of love is subconscious, according to research. When you meet someone and feel that love connection, you might have no idea why (and so may think it’s fate), but there could be a logical explanation. Some researchers think your subconscious brain is processing all kinds of information about your partner during that initial attraction stage—including whether he or she meets any unspoken love requirements. So maybe what feels like instantaneous love is actually a bit more methodical than we realize!
2) Studies show it takes 5 days to fall in love with someone
When researchers at Cornell University asked men and women to guess how long it takes for someone to fall in love with them, most answered 2-3 months. In reality, it takes almost a month less for men (4.5 days) than for women (6.5 days). On average, people take 72 hours to really fall in love with someone (it's not just a crush). But that’s just an average. Some couples may have met on Monday, fallen in love by Wednesday, are married by Saturday and divorced by Sunday night - either way both are still head over heels! This shows even more how powerful our emotions can be towards finding someone we feel deeply about.
3) We don’t feel like falling in love until we start seeing someone regularly
While scientists aren’t exactly sure why humans feel love, they do know that we start to feel attraction when our brains release cuddle chemical oxytocin. But here’s what you may not have known: This only happens when you see your partner regularly and build a relationship. Your body isn’t just primed for sex, it’s also ready for meaningful connections. If a partner can deliver both (no big surprise there), then he or she is an excellent candidate for falling in love with them long-term.
4) There is a type we are attracted to and it's called complementary opposites
Everyone knows that opposites attract, but did you know there's actually a specific psychology behind it? This is called complementarity. Basically, we're drawn to people who are as different from us as possible because it helps us balance ourselves out. Finding someone with opposing traits to your own creates balance and stability in a relationship. The easiest way to picture it is with a yin-yang symbol: For every point of darkness, there's a spot of light; for every up, there's down; for every sharp corner, there's an arc.
5) Common interests are overrated
Many people think that falling in love is based on finding someone who shares your passions and interests. However, research shows that common interests only play a small role in relationships. In fact, other characteristics of an individual have a much larger impact on relationships, such as their personality and values. Despite popular opinion, looks also didn’t play a major role in early attraction. Instead, it was things like self-disclosure and mutual liking. Falling in love with someone because you share common interests might just be a fool’s errand - there are many more important factors to take into account when choosing who to date or marry!
6) Most successful relationships are based on mutual attraction and friendship
We all know there’s no one right way to love, but there are certainly some characteristics shared by couples who are more likely to stay together. A University of Denver study showed that couples who share friends and interests have a higher chance of staying together than those who don’t. Those who share common social circles were 50 percent less likely to break up, while those with overlapping networks were 36 percent less likely to end their relationship. So pick your partner wisely! The best thing you can do for your love life is seek out someone with similar interests—your personalities will be more complementary that way, and you'll probably enjoy spending time together even when you're not getting romantic.
7) Yes, you can be in love with more than one person at the same time
Polyamory is when you are romantically involved with more than one person at a time. It's important to note that polyamory is not necessarily about having a lot of sex with a lot of people; it's about being in love with more than one person at once. People who practice polyamory will often rotate their romantic focus among several partners, even if they are only physically intimate with one or two people. Others may have an ongoing, serious relationship with multiple partners, but don't actually live together or spend much time together.
8) If you really want your relationship to last, stay friends first.
In many ways, friendship is more important than love in a relationship. This might sound counterintuitive, but according to Jonathan Haidt, PhD, author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom , being friends first will allow your relationship to last longer and be stronger. It turns out that romantic love is a pretty bad basis for marriage, he writes . I’m not sure that it’s any worse than some other sources of inspiration for marriage (such as duty or religion), but it probably isn’t much better. So how do you avoid going from I love you to silent treatment and bickering? Make sure you're building your relationship on something solid by maintaining a friendship first.
