AP32238

Lust or Love

The University of Chicago employed science and research to answer this age old question: is it lust or love. Eye patterns reveal that viewers tend to look at his or her mate's face if they see potential for romantic love, whereas the viewer tends to look at his or her body if feels sexual desire. (M. Bolmont, J. T. Cacioppo, S. Cacioppo) Additional studies by Cacioppo indicate that different regions in the brain are used in lust compared to love, thus altering the eye movements of each one. In this study, students were asked to view black and white photographs that depicted couples who look at each other compared to couples where one looked directly at the camera. None of the photos were risqué. No significant difference was found in the time it took students to identify romantic love versus sexual desire, thus showing how quickly the brain differentiates love and desire. (Cacioppo) Further analysis of eye tracking data shows significant differences in eye movement that correspond to feelings of lust or love. Participants tended to fixate on the face, when they said an image elicited a feeling of romantic love, whereas images that evoked sexual desire, the subjects' eyes moved from the face to focus on the body. This was found in both men and women.(Cacippo) This research could prove to helpful in couple's counseling, as well as a tool for fathers differentiate whether the boy actually cares for his daughter or just desires her.

References: University of Chicago. "Eye movements reveal difference between love and lust." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 July 2014. . Only graders edit below this line!
 * 1) M. Bolmont, J. T. Cacioppo, S. Cacioppo. **Love Is in the Gaze: An Eye-Tracking Study of Love and Sexual Desire**. //Psychological Science//, 2014; DOI: 10.1177/0956797614539706

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