We all like to think that one day, we’ll lock eyes with some rich, dark stranger, fall madly in love and live happily ever after.
But anyone holding out for love at first sight might be in for a lifetime of disappointment.
Because psychologists are refuting the idea that it’s possible to fall in love immediately.
Yep, a study from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands has been looking into whether there’s much truth behind the old rom-com trope.
And disappointingly, its concluded that what most of us think of as being love at first sight is merely lust.
Researchers looked at 396 particpants, 60% of whom were women, most were heterosexual and almost all were young Dutch or German students.
They were asked questions via an online survey about their current romantic status before being shown pictures of strangers and rating their attraction to them – noting any feelings of love, intimacy, passion, commitment and sexual desire.
They were also asked if they felt that they were ‘experiencing love at first sight’.
Other tests including speed dating and rating their feelings for their prospective partner.
32 participants (mostly men) described having 49 experiences of love at firs sight.
And those incidents were strongly linked to finding the other person incredibly physically attractive.
However, none of the the incidents reported during the speed dating test were mutual.
More: Sex
‘To conclude, our findings suggest that love at first sight reported at actual first sight resembles neither passionate love nor love more generally,’ the study concludes.
They say that love at first sight is merely that initial strong sense of sexual attaction.
Those people who were in relationships who said they’d fallen in love with their partners immediately did however report higher levels of passion in their relationship than those who said their partners had grown on them.
After all, Prince Harry claims to have known Meghan was the one ‘the very first time we met’.
And if it works for him…
MORE: People have fallen in love with this cat’s permanently shocked expression
We all like to think that one day, we’ll lock eyes with some rich, dark stranger, fall madly in love and live happily ever after.
But anyone holding out for love at first sight might be in for a lifetime of disappointment.
Because psychologists are refuting the idea that it’s possible to fall in love immediately.
Yep, a study from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands has been looking into whether there’s much truth behind the old rom-com trope.
And disappointingly, its concluded that what most of us think of as being love at first sight is merely lust.
Researchers looked at 396 particpants, 60% of whom were women, most were heterosexual and almost all were young Dutch or German students.
They were asked questions via an online survey about their current romantic status before being shown pictures of strangers and rating their attraction to them – noting any feelings of love, intimacy, passion, commitment and sexual desire.
They were also asked if they felt that they were ‘experiencing love at first sight’.
Other tests including speed dating and rating their feelings for their prospective partner.
32 participants (mostly men) described having 49 experiences of love at firs sight.
And those incidents were strongly linked to finding the other person incredibly physically attractive.
However, none of the the incidents reported during the speed dating test were mutual.
More: Sex
‘To conclude, our findings suggest that love at first sight reported at actual first sight resembles neither passionate love nor love more generally,’ the study concludes.
They say that love at first sight is merely that initial strong sense of sexual attaction.
Those people who were in relationships who said they’d fallen in love with their partners immediately did however report higher levels of passion in their relationship than those who said their partners had grown on them.
After all, Prince Harry claims to have known Meghan was the one ‘the very first time we met’.
And if it works for him…
MORE: People have fallen in love with this cat’s permanently shocked expression
