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Biological and Social Explanations of Attraction

This study established a connection between low levels of serotonin in the blood and romantic love. .
             Biochemistry helps us understand and explain what an individual goes through when falling in love and forming attachments, what is not explained is why some people are more attractive than others. Evolutionary theories argue that the purpose of attraction is to ensure individuals genes are passed on to the next generation and to procreate. Buss et al found that in all cultures in the world women desire older mean as they are more resourceful for protecting each other and their offspring. Whereas men generally desire younger women as they can bear more children and are much more fertile. Clarke and Hatfield observed that men are more likely than women to indulge in casual sex. This is because, from an evolutionary view, a woman can only bear one child at a time and will try to get the best advantages for protecting herself and her offspring. Thus, women are always more selective and picky when it comes to choosing a partner for sex. Whereas men view having sex as less risky business as it is an opportunity to pass on their genes and produce more offspring.
             Wedekind conducted an experiment to see if body odour played a role in attraction. He tested what role genes play in the immune system of mate selection. MHC genes are co-dominant, which means that both set of inherited genes create an effective immune system, thus more diverse the MHC genes, the better the immune system of the offspring. Wedekind created a group of 44 men and 49 women with a wide range of MHC genes, giving each of the men a clean t-shirt to wear for two nights. The participants were told to use odour free soap and shaving cream. Participants were also restricted from having spicy food. After these t-shirt were returned, Wedekind placed them in a cardboard box with a sniffing hole on the top. The women were brought in to smell the box's in the mid-point of their menstrual cycle as that is when women's sense of smell is the strongest.


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