Do you still cherish the memories of that girl you fell in "love at first sight"? You might not anymore, as a recent study might take away all that nostalgia you developed around those moments.
According to a research conducted by the University of Groningen, Netherlands, there is nothing called love at first sight and it's always "lust at first sight", even though Hollywood might not agree as it celebrated this idea of romance over decades down the line.
The researchers from the varsity came to this conclusion after interacting with 396 Dutch and German heterosexual students. During the interaction, the students were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their current romantic relationship. They were then shown pictures of various strangers and were asked about their attraction to them.
They were asked if they're experiencing anything like 'love at first sight' or if there are any feelings of love which includes intimacy, commitment or anything like that.
Two more studies were conducted involving speed dating, where participants spent 20 or 90 minutes to get to know each other. They were then asked about the feelings they had on their potential partners.
They found that only 32 participants (mostly men) described 49 times they felt love at first sight. However, this was strongly linked to the finding that the other person is incredibly physically attractive.
"Our findings suggest that love at first sight reported at actual first sight resembles neither passionate love nor love more generally," the researchers said.
It is likely that people who say they have fallen in love, at first sight, could be a 'strong initial attraction' that they end up labelling as 'love at first sight', the researchers concluded.
Interestingly, the study participants who were in a relationship claimed at the time of the study that they believe that they'd fallen in love with their partners at first sight. And, reported higher levels of passion in their relationship than those who didn't say it.
