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Love and Lust: The Eyes Have It


Two recent studies caught my eye on body language. In the first study the eye movements of of heterosexual students were tracked whilst being show a range of photo graphs of the opposite sex. Students were asked to suggest whether these people would make good partners or friends. Interestingly, The study showed that heterosexual men and women looked at the head or chest of an opposite-sex person longer and more often when evaluating dating potential, compared with possible friendship. Conversely, she said, both men and women looked at legs or feet with greater frequency when they made platonic rather than sexual judgments. For the full review click here.

For the die hard romantics out there, find out how long it takes to fall in love by reading a meta-analysis study conducted by Syracuse University Professor Stephanie Ortigue here.

In another recent study, at the University of Chicago, it found that eye patterns concentrate on a stranger’s face if the viewer sees that person as a potential partner in romantic love, but the viewer gazes more at the other person’s body if he or she is feeling sexual desire. That automatic judgment can occur in as little as half a second, producing different gaze patterns. For a review of the research click here.


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