BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: attraction

Do Genetics Play A Role In Attraction?

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On February 25, 2022

In Student Post

Have you ever met someone with whom you instantly wanted to be friends but couldn’t put your finger on why or how you felt so drawn to them? There is a reason why you might be drawn to a specific person or group of people that may be explained by biology.

Double stranded DNA with coloured basesChromosome Terminology

According to a book by a well-known author, Malcolm Gladwell, a “unconscious” region of the human brain helps us to digest information spontaneously while encountering someone or something for the first time or making a rash decision. The University of Maryland School of Medicine has expanded on this hypothesis with a new study, indicating that these reactions may have a biological foundation related to heredity. The experiment was carried out on a group of mice. Variations in a particular enzyme discovered in a portion of the brain that affects mood and drive appear to influence which mice desire to actively engage with other mice; genetically related mice favored one another. Similar circumstances, such as disorders linked with social withdrawal, such as schizophrenia or autism, might also influence people’s decisions. Consequently, researchers do not agree with the phrase “opposites attract,” because genetics have a significant role in attraction. Instead, experts propose that we choose friends based only on their similarities to ourselves. Unlike the concept of “opposites attracting,” the expression “people like their own kind” is accurate. While genes definitely contribute to an individual’s attractiveness, they only account for around one-third of the reasons why we choose someone else to be our friend.

In a separate study, researchers examined a range of variables, that often are most inheritable and those that are less inheritable, to evaluate the role genes function in our human conduct, and they discovered that “people are genetically inclined to choose as social partners those who resemble themselves on a genetic level.” Rushton discovered in this study that humans prefer to choose partners based on inheritable attributes, even when we are unaware that such characteristics are genetically determined. For example, the middle-finger length is inherited, although the upper-arm circumference is not. Spouses who took part in the study had identical middle finger lengths but not the same upper-arm circumference. The function of heredity also influences personality, which explains why “people like their own kind.” What you inherited biologically from your parents, which is defined by the genes in your DNA, is the key to personality traits. Genetic heredity accounts for almost half of our cognitive differences, from personality to mental capabilities.

Love-heart-hands

Genetics is the scientific study of genes and heredity, which transfer particular characteristics from parents to offspring due to variations in DNA sequences. The genome contains all of an organism’s genetic code, including its genes and additional components that govern the activation of those genes. We are drawn to others because of the features that we share with them through genetic material. Our DNA is stored in chromosomes, and each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes has the same genes that are handed down from parent to offspring. When a baby is being formed, DNA is handed down, and each parent sends half of their chromosomes to their kid, thus each of your parents contributes 50% of your DNA. The term “genetic love” refers to the idea of matching partners for romantic relationships based on their biological compatibility. “Genetic love” describes the notion of attraction based on heredity.

Difference DNA RNA-EN

Is it possible that you want to be friends with someone of the same genetics as yourself? Yes! It is! However, it is not the only thing that accounts for maintaining a friendship.

Can Science Explain Love?

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On January 14, 2019

In Student Post

Sometimes it’s the greatest feeling in the world. Sometimes it hurts. Although we may never derive a fundamental recipe for it, much of love can be explained by chemistry and biology.

The brain (not the heart!) is responsible for romantic love, which, according to Dr. Helen Fisher at Rutgers University and Katherine Wu at Harvard University, can be broken down into three categories: lust, attraction, and attachment.

Credit: “Hearts” by eflon on Flickr.

Lust is our yearning for “sexual gratification.” This facet of love is grounded in our evolutionary, inherent need to reproduce. Lust is stimulated when the hypothalamus releases “sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) from the testes and ovaries.”

Whereas lust concerns merely “sexual gratification,” another aspect of love, attraction, encompasses a variety of emotions with regard to a specific person. Attraction leads to the release of the chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. As anyone whose ever been attracted knows, these chemicals make us “giddy, energetic, and euphoric.” Attraction also stimulates the brain’s reward center, which fires “like crazy when people are shown a photo of someone they are intensely attracted to.” Another hormone, serotonin, is found in low levels in both people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and people those who are experiencing attraction. As a result, scientists have theorized that attraction, and the ensuing low level of serotonin, is responsible for the obsessive infatuation so common in love.

The third aspect of love, attachment, is responsible for intimacy, is a key factor in long-term relationships, and is, of course, mediated by hormones.  The two hormones responsible for attachment, oxytocin and vasopressin, “are found in large quantities during sex, breastfeeding and childbirth,” all activities that are “precursors to bonding.” From this, it is easier to understand the concept of three different aspects of love: the “love” parents feel towards their children is merely the attachment aspect of it, but neither the lust nor the attraction aspect.

Although science can give us a biological basis for it, love, and all of its intricacies, can never be fully explained.

The Science of the Appeal Behind Dark Personalities

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On February 10, 2013

In Student Post

A recent study suggests that many people have a mysterious attraction to dark personalities. Specifically, people with traits like Machiavellian, narcissism, and psychopathy. These three traits are called the “Dark Triad” and people with these traits were found to be more attractive than those who were seen to have less of these characteristics. On this surface, it seems bogus. Who in their right mind finds a psychopath to be sexy? However, a quick examination of society proves otherwise. Dark brooding characters seem to be all the rage right now, it’s why movies like the Twilight series sell out (teenage girls swoon over Edward’s moodiness) and why TV shows with characters forced to make morally ambiguous decisions like The Walking Dead are hits.  In the experiment,

Each student was photographed soon after they arrived.  Then, after taking this initial photograph, each student asked to change out of their own clothes and put on a pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt…The students were then photographed in this more natural state. Holtzman and Strube showed both sets of photographs to a group of strangers who rated them in terms of physical attractiveness. By comparing the attractiveness ratings of the dressed-down and dressed-up students, the researchers were able to determine how much each student was able to make themselves more appealing through flashy clothes, makeup, accessories, etc.

The students in the study were then tested for the Dark Triad, and the results were confirmed with the friends and family of the students. While there was a definite correlation between attractiveness in the photos of the dressed up students and a high Dark Triad score,

the dark triad score was not related to ratings of physical attractiveness in the dressed-down photos. In other words, people with dark personality traits are not seen as more physically attractive than others when you take away their freedom to wear their own clothes and makeup.

This suggests that people with darker personalities are simply better at making themselves look nice. Do I believe this? To a large extent, yes. The more narcissistic you are, the more you’re going to care about your appearance.

 

http://pixabay.com/en/view-science-diagram-human-cartoon-40356/
The amygdala is the portion of the brain believed to be responsible for these kinds of personality traits.

The article does add one important point: choose your friends carefully. Social interactions  and the way we perceive others, is a complex mechanism. The amygdala is a small part of the brain that is responsible for much of our social interactions and ability to connect to others. This part of the brain plays a big role in deciding who seems like a potentially good friend and who you may want to avoid. Initially  humans being tend to associate physical attractiveness with goodness and trustworthiness,

a phenomenon known as “the halo effect.” When we perceive someone as physically attractive, we automatically assume they are also kinder, smarter, and more confident. Therefore, creating a physically attractive veneer is a highly effective way of creating an advantageous first impression.

 

As the saying goes: don’t judge a book by its cover.

 

Sources:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=psychology-uncovers-sex-appeal-dark-personalities&page=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala#Social_interaction

Photo: http://pixabay.com/en/view-science-diagram-human-cartoon-40356/

_____________________________________________________________

Just for fun, I took a Dark Triad quiz.  Click on he link to take it yourself. Judging from my score, I should be able to make myself look like Miss Universe. I can’t, in case you were wondering. As with any kind of generalizations such as these, they are never 100%. Leave a comment with your result. Do you agree with it?

Could it be more than a Simple Physical Attraction?

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On February 28, 2012

In Student Post

Ever wonder why there are so many cougars around these days, or so many older men dating younger women?

It’s not just because of a physical attraction. In fact, attraction in humans and in fruit flies relates to pheromones, or “the chemicals of love.” In the recent Biology News article “Fruit Flies Drawn to the Sweet Smell of Youth,” I learned that cuticular hydrocarbons,which are the pheromones of fruit flies, change with age. In an experiment run by Tsung-Han Kuo, a ” a graduate student in the department of molecular and human genetics and the Huffington Center on Aging at BCM,” it was obvious that the male fruit fly was attracted much more to the young female fruit fly than the older female fruit fly. This was even true when the male fruit fly could not see the flies because the scientist had made the room dark. Interestingly enough, all it took for the male fruit fly to be confused about which woman to choose was to wipe the pheromones, or rather the cuticular hydrocarbons, off the bodies of the female fruit flies. When this occurred, the male fruit fly was rather ambivalent and flummoxed with the decision over which fly to choose to mate with. This tells us that pheromonesmake all the difference, an

most significantly to this article, they spark fly attraction. I believe that this pheromone attraction could be the true reason why  many individuals stray from their significant others to find “hotter” and “sexier” partners.

 

A Dead Fruit Fly.

To sum all this up, based on our experiments in class, we know that fruit flies produce massive numbers of children, and as these female fruit flies age, the male fruit flies that they have mated with in the past are vastly less interested and attracted to the aging female pheromone.

Dear Darwin: What Makes Ryan Reynolds “Sexy”?

By

On October 17, 2011

In Student Post

Photo Credit: Paco Paco Flickr

Now we all know that a big jaw, prominent brow, and bulging muscles are conventionally thought of as attractive features in a man and that large breasts, an hour-glass figure, and big eyes are attractive in women, but have you ever wondered why?

Well the answer lies in an unexpected place: science. According to the Evolutionary Theory of Attraction, what men and women  perceive to be attractive is actually based on adaptational behaviors that traditionally helped survival. Studies show that women look for masculine features such as a defined jaw, prominent brow, and muscular build because these often to reflect physiological and behavioral traits such as strength, aggression, virility, and a strong immune system, which would be advantageous to pass on to offspring and would mean that the man can provide and protect his family.

So while women’s attraction is rooted in a man’s ability to provide for his family, men on the put more emphasis on signs of fertility and youth. The hour-glass figure: large breasts and “child-bearing” hips, and youthful features such as plump lips, a hip-to-waist ratio of 0.7, a face with a high forehead, good skin, and big eyes are signs to men that the prospective mate is fertile and young. Such features helped ensure the male that his genes would be passed on to his offspring. Other factors such as symmetry, especially facial symmetry, is attractive because it means that there are strong genetics at work according to researchers and experts.

Recent studies show that when a woman chooses a mate, often times she must subconsciously choose between a macho man and his more wimpy counterpart depending on her situation. While the macho man has preferential genes to pass on to offspring, these traits often mean tendency to abandon, hostility, and promiscuity. The less masculine man is more likely to provide the stability, love, and care for a family. In fact, according to expert, Dr. DeBruine’s study, a woman’s environment greatly plays into her attraction between these two types of men. In her study on women in countries with poor health standards, women preferred men with more masculine features more than those who lived in more stable and healthy societies. This is a classic example of natural selection because the women look for healthier genes often associated with masculine, macho attractive men.

So that is why we find movie stars like Angelina Jolie, Brad Bitt, and Ryan Reynolds are attractive: evolutionary adaptations meant to help ensure our survival and the successful passing on of genes to offspring. Do you agree with this theory of attraction? And which category would you put yourselves in ladies, those who go after Mr. Sensitive or those who go after Mr. Dangerous?

 

For more on this go to:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/10/evolution-of-attraction.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Male-Female-Attraction—Evolutionary-Theory&id=2236366

http://wilderdom.com/personality/L7-2EvolutionPersonality.html

http://www.economist.com/node/17672806

http://antimisandry.com/chit-chat-main/sociobiological-theories-attraction-11277.html

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/sociobiology.html

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