The Anthropology Of Romantic Love, Attraction, And Attachment w/ Helen Fisher

Hi, everybody! This Monday, I have an interview with Dr. Helen Fisher for you. She is a biological anthropologist, and a Senior Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University. She has written six books on the evolution, biology, and psychology of human sexuality, monogamy, adultery and divorce, gender differences in the brain, the neural chemistry of romantic love and attachment, human biologically-based personality styles, why we fall in love with one person rather than another, hooking up, friends with benefits, living together and other current trends, and the future of relationships-- what she calls: slow love. She’s the author of books like Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, Why Him? Why Her?: How to Find and Keep Lasting Love, and Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray.

In this episode, we focus on romantic love. We start off by talking about its evolutionary and neurobiological bases. We also refer to sex differences and the extent to which they apply to romantic love. We go through the main symptoms of love that occur cross-culturally, as well as the hormones and neurotransmitters associated with it. Then, we discuss the several factors that go into who people fall in love with, including personality types. We also talk about the pattern of 3-4 years of romantic relationships in humans, and what’s being it, and if we can really talk about a preferred mating system in humans. We focus on the problems associated with polyamory relationships, and also on slow love as a possible preferred approach to relationships in the future.

https://youtu.be/FyZJz_-Ndj4

Link to podcast version (Anchor): https://bit.ly/2WhUezM