ABSTRACT

How much does appearance matter in the formation of romantic relationships? Do nice guys always finish last? Does playing hard-to-get ever work? What really makes for a good chat-up line? When it comes to relationships, theres no shortage of advice from self-help experts, pick-up artists, and glossy magazines. But modern-day myths of attraction often have no basis in fact or worse are rooted in little more than misogyny. In 'Attraction Explained', psychologist Viren Swami debunks these myths and draws on cutting-edge research to provide a ground-breaking and evidence-based account of relationship formation. At the core of this book is a very simple idea: there are no laws of attraction, no foolproof methods or strategies for getting someone to date you. But this isn't to say that theres nothing to be gained from studying attraction. Based on science rather than self-help cliches, Attraction Explained looks at how factors such as geography, appearance, personality, and similarity affect who we fall for and why.

chapter |22 pages

Cupid's Arrow

Or, a brief history of attraction theories, some dumb shit other people have said, and what this book is all about

chapter |34 pages

Getting Up Close and Personal

Or, why geography matters, how the Internet is (and isn't) changing how we form relationships, and a beauty-map of London

chapter |28 pages

Appearance Matters

Or, how we judge books by their covers, how men aren't from Mars and women aren't from Venus, and why what is beautiful is good

chapter |35 pages

Appearance Matters, Part II

Or, how other things matter too, why nice guys don't always finish last, and how love is sometimes blind

chapter |41 pages

Liking Those Who Like Us

Or, how I like you because you like me, thirty-six questions that may (or may not) change your life, and why playing hard-to-get is… hard

chapter |32 pages

Birds of a Feather

Or, why we like people who are similar to ourselves, how we match on attitudes (and other traits), and why opposites sometimes attract

chapter |22 pages

The End of the Beginning

Or, why life outside the lab makes fools of all of us and, to conclude, some life-changing advice