Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies
Romantic love is universally observed in human communities, and the manner in which a person chooses a long-term romantic partner has been a central question in studies on close relationships. Numerous empirical psychological studies have demonstrated that facial attractiveness greatly impacts initi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896514/full |
| _version_ | 1811249913663586304 |
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| author | Ryuhei Ueda Ryuhei Ueda |
| author_facet | Ryuhei Ueda Ryuhei Ueda |
| author_sort | Ryuhei Ueda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Romantic love is universally observed in human communities, and the manner in which a person chooses a long-term romantic partner has been a central question in studies on close relationships. Numerous empirical psychological studies have demonstrated that facial attractiveness greatly impacts initial romantic attraction. This close link was further investigated by neuroimaging studies showing that both viewing attractive faces and having romantic thoughts recruit the reward system. However, it remains unclear how our brains integrate perceived facial attractiveness into initial romantic attraction. In addition, it remains unclear how our brains shape a persistent attraction to a particular person through interactions; this persistent attraction is hypothesized to contribute to a long-term relationship. After reviewing related studies, I introduce methodologies that could help address these questions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:55:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2305dce02c514309b708eaaa27c8bc29 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:55:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2305dce02c514309b708eaaa27c8bc292022-12-22T03:26:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-06-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.896514896514Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical StudiesRyuhei Ueda0Ryuhei Ueda1Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanCenter for Information and Neural Networks, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Osaka, JapanRomantic love is universally observed in human communities, and the manner in which a person chooses a long-term romantic partner has been a central question in studies on close relationships. Numerous empirical psychological studies have demonstrated that facial attractiveness greatly impacts initial romantic attraction. This close link was further investigated by neuroimaging studies showing that both viewing attractive faces and having romantic thoughts recruit the reward system. However, it remains unclear how our brains integrate perceived facial attractiveness into initial romantic attraction. In addition, it remains unclear how our brains shape a persistent attraction to a particular person through interactions; this persistent attraction is hypothesized to contribute to a long-term relationship. After reviewing related studies, I introduce methodologies that could help address these questions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896514/fullromantic lovefacial attractivenesssocial decision-makingsocial cognitionneuroimaging |
| spellingShingle | Ryuhei Ueda Ryuhei Ueda Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies Frontiers in Psychology romantic love facial attractiveness social decision-making social cognition neuroimaging |
| title | Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies |
| title_full | Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies |
| title_fullStr | Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies |
| title_short | Neural Processing of Facial Attractiveness and Romantic Love: An Overview and Suggestions for Future Empirical Studies |
| title_sort | neural processing of facial attractiveness and romantic love an overview and suggestions for future empirical studies |
| topic | romantic love facial attractiveness social decision-making social cognition neuroimaging |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896514/full |
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