A leader in the psychology of human mating, and an expert on both the cultural and biological foundations of love, Helen Fisher shares science-backed information on attraction, mate selection, infidelity, the neuroscience of love and the effects of culture on our biology. There’s a wealth of interesting facts here and some surprising insight into humanity’s quest for romance. We LOVED this episode!

In this episode you will hear about:

• Critical factors that influence love and attraction
• The biological patterns of partner choice
• Some of the major reasons behind the prevalence of infidelity
• The neuroscience of love
• How our brain’s architecture allows us to love more than one person at once
• Why we refer to it as “falling” in love
• How Bill Clinton was our first “female” president
• Some psychological truths about our modern hookup culture
• Four patterns of mate pairing
• The role of fetishes
• The genetic basis for stability in relationships
• Sex differences in sexual/romantic rejection.
• Helen’s experience as an identical twin and her opinions on nature vs. nurture
• The role of culture in changing our biology

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Resources: 

• Helen’s book: Why We Love
• Helen’s book: Why Him? Why Her?
• Helen’s article: INFIDELITY: WHEN, WHERE, WHY.
• Helen’s website
• A talk from Helen on what we want from love
• Sexual Hookup Culture: A Review
• Scott’s book with Glenn Geher: Mating Intelligence Unleashed
• Furry convention

“Helen Fisher, PhD Biological Anthropologist, is a Senior Research Fellow, The Kinsey Institute, member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Internet dating site Match.com. She has conducted extensive research and written five books on the evolution and future of human sex, love, marriage, gender differences in the brain and how your personality style shapes who you are and who you love.” -Blurb taken from helenfisher.com