Instant Attraction: Why, How, and What It's All About

Instant attraction. The best comparison we have for it is lightning; it strikes from out of nowhere, all bright and intense. We’ve all experienced that jolt of desire for someone regardless of who it is, when it happens, or even why.

Of course, that complex feeling still has numerous layers to it. We can go on and on and on about it all day and there would still be something to discuss. To keep things short, let’s tackle how attraction happens, why it does, and what the types are.

Why and How Attraction Happens

As human beings, we evolved to find partners we can reproduce with. The feeling ties right into how fertile a potential partner is, along with how likely the potential offspring might survive. That is the short answer and somewhat clinical explanation as to why attraction happens.

Concerning how, that is a different story altogether.

Science explains how many factors come together to make that spark between two people happen. Concerning those factors, the most essential ones are as follows:

• Geographical Proximity

• Shared Similarities

• Physical features

• Hormones

Attraction is more likely to develop between those who are often in close proximity to one another, along with those with a lot in common between them. Good looks are an important–and popular–factor that most focus on. Then, there is the underrated role played by pheromones, oxytocin, and dopamine.

What are the Different Types of Attraction?

Just hearing the term attraction tends to lead people towards thoughts of either romantic or sexual natures. However, there is far more to it than just those two. To be far more specific, there tends to be five accepted classifications of attraction types:

• Romantic

• Sexual

• Emotional

• Physical

• Aesthetic

Due to how often they are discussed, both romantic and sexual attractions are the most well-known. Emotional and physical attractions come in various subclassifications, which can overlap with the previous two.

For example, intellectual attraction falls under the emotional umbrella, and it happens when an individual feels drawn towards the intelligence of others. This subtype may overlap with either romantic or sexual, which is why some people refer to themselves as sapiosexual.

Even instances such as wanting to be in close proximity to another person or to a specific group can fall under physical attraction, despite the lack of bodily contact. The last type, aesthetic attraction, is visual in nature but it can also overlap with the first two types or not at all.

So, it should be clear by now that even something as complicated as attraction can be broken down into easier, more digestible points. To sum things up: not all instances of attraction are the same, just like how our reasons for feeling attraction will vary.

As logical as we make this interesting topic to be, there’s still few things that can prepare each and every single one of us when that proverbial lightning bolt strikes. After all, this is the world of instant attraction, and we just happen to live in it.