Only had three hours to write it and no prior knowledge of the subject so its kind of choppy.
Contrary to popular belief, love is not a magical, predestined occurrence. It is actually a series of complex neurological and chemical reactions with hereditary and social influences. The ultimate goal of love is child conception and rearing.
The first stage of a relationship usually lasts between six months and two years. This phase is filled with feelings of rapture and reliance toward your lover. The release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin by the brain's reward system cause these feelings. Romantic love causes your brain to release dopamine which rewards you with feelings of vitality and euphoria. Norepinephrine is released by the brain which causes feelings of adrenaline. Serotonin causes insane obsession. These feelings are addicting and have been compared to the high of cocaine. Because you enjoy these chemical reactions, you want to stay with your partner to continue experiencing these sensations.
Subconsciously, our brain picks our mate. People are innately attracted to people with opposite genes such as them because our body instinctively knows that a vast array of genes produces better offspring. This fact is highlighted in Professor Claus Wedekind’s of the University of Lausanne pheromone test. He asked a group of women to sniff men’s sweaty shirts and pick the ones that smelled the best to them. The results indicated that the females picked the shirt of the man who has an immune system dissimilar from her own. Another test conducted by Dr. Martha McClintock of the University of Chicago supports Freud’s Oedipal Complex. In her sweaty shirt test, women were shown to like the shirt that smelled most like her fathers. This is so because a man with her father’s genes has a veteran immune system but also divergent genes that promise an extensive selection for immunity. Our brain also selects partners based on symmetry. It is proven that men are attracted the most to women who have a certain waist to hip ratio, indifferent of weight. This is so because that certain ratio reflects that female’s fertility. When females get older they gain weight and that waist to hip ratio gets distorted. On par, this corresponds to the loss of fecund in the female. On the other hand, females look for men with the most testosterone. High levels of testosterone signify good health and the ability to protect the female. Female’s inherently notice these levels in men’s beards and physical strength. This explains lust for to the six-pack and chiseled body.
Once we have chosen our mate, our actions are equally as important. Male’s being polite and courteous reflect the ability to care for the female during pregnancy and the child after conception. The male having the acute patience and skill to produce a female orgasm reflects his fatherly devotion. Constant intercourse leads to the production of oxytocin and vasopressin. The release of oxytocin propels the relationship out of the romantic infatuation phase and into the obligation phase.
The translation between the romantic and devotional phase is usually marked by a baby. What else would the couple do with their absent of romance time? Oxytocin causes female’s to produce breast milk and develop a strong bond with their child. Vasopressin leads to the long term commitment phase of a relationship as well. The fire of romance is usually extinguished by the time the child is raised because of the chemicals released by stress and routine lives. At this point, the couple may divorce and go repeat the process again. Au contraire, they may settle into the long lasting commitment phase which may last the rest of their lifetime.
Why there is such a brief period of romance compared to the possibly life-lasting period of companionate love is best explained by an anthropologist PhD. Dr Helen Fisher of Rutgers University states that, “The Brain Circuitry for male-female attachment evolved to enable individuals to remain with a mate long enough to complete species-specific parenting duties.” Romantic love also fades because of the way our brain responds to surges of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. Similar to any drug, our body needs more of it to reach the desired effect. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Romantic love has to be replaced by passionate love in order to raise a child successfully. How would a couple rear an adolescent if they spent the majority of time fixated with each other? Since the effects of infatuated romance shows similar characteristics to cocaine addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder, exaggerated periods of lust may lead to psychological disorders. These include sexual addiction and prolonged feelings of apathy.
I chose to write my exam with a scientific approach because as with all in life, I believe there is no higher meaning or a preordained fate. Rather, I worship the Socratic Method, science, and hard facts.