What is this thing called love?

(o_I_)

According to a 1991 survey, at any one time about one in ten of us describe ourselves as 'madly in love'. Love is remarkably common; in the survey only one in five of the 1,000 people interviewed said they were 'not really in love', with most of the rest admitting to some kind of romantic involvement. So what is this feeling called love? To many researchers the classic symptoms of butterflies in the tummy, rapid pulse rate and legs turning to jelly are far from mysterious. Many believe it can all be explained by our biochemistry.

(1____)

Scientists believe the excitement of that fatal attraction is created by adrenaline - the same hormone that is produced when we are under stress. When stimulated, the adrenal glands also produce a hormone called cortisone, whose side-effects include feelings of great happiness.

(2____)

Eyes give away the fact that you are in love, or at least very much attracted to someone because adrenaline enlarges or 'dilates' your pupils. Having large pupils also means that we are more appealing to others. Desmond Morris, a scientist who studies human behaviour, proved this point by showing a picture of a woman to a large number of men. He then told them that she had a twin sister, but presented the same woman with her pupils dilated. When the men were asked which of the twins they'd like to take out for the evening, most chose the one with larger pupils.

(3____)

In another study, scientists used two bridges over the Capilano River in British Columbia. One was a very dangerous-looking bridge which was 70 metres above the river, while the other was a solid concrete bridge. An attractive female researcher stopped men coming off each bridge. She managed to give them her phone number while she pretended to get them to fill out a questionnaire. Many more of the men who had crossed the dangerous bridge later phoned the researcher to ask her out than those who had crossed the safe bridge. This made researchers think that love is much like any other emotional state. Because their adrenaline is flowing and their hearts are beating fast, people believe they are in love even if they are actually only a bit frightened.

(4____)

But how do we select our partners from all the thousands of possible people? People are often attracted to others who have a lot in common with them - even if they don't always realise that they have anything in common. We give out unspoken messages about ourselves every day from the way we walk, talk and hold ourselves. It's not just the way we dress, but our posture, facial expressions, movements, tone of voice, accent and so on. If you put a group of people who don't know each other in a room together and ask them to pair up, they will naturally choose partners who are of similar family background, social class and upbringing. We are all looking for something familiar though we may not be aware of exactly what it is.

(5____)

Facial attractiveness is a big influence on our choice of partners, too. People have long-lasting relationships with others of a similar level of attractiveness. In a recent study, researchers took a selection of wedding photos and cut them up to separate the bride and groom. They then showed them to people who were asked to rate how attractive each person's face was. When the researchers put the photos back into pairs, they found most of the couples had been rated at similar levels.

(6____)

Aside from our ability to rate others, each of us carries a rough estimate in our heads of how facially attractive we might be. We realise subconsciously that if we approach someone who is much better looking than we are, we run the risk of being rejected.

(7____)

Whatever the explanation for how and why we fall in love, one thing is clear: Nature has made the whole process as wonderful and as addictive as possible. Perhaps that's why so many of us are at least a little bit 'in love' most of the time.

A. Two magic substances.

B. Finding someone who matches us physically.

C. Two feelings that are easily confused.

D. We don’t want to get hurt.

E. A silly experiment.

F. It’s hard to resist.

G. We like what we know.

H. Spot the difference.

I. Most of us feel it.