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The Look of Love: Evolution and Nonverbal Signs and Signals of Attraction

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Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships

Abstract

Nonverbal communication plays an instrumental role in the process of meeting someone in a potential romantic encounter, starting from determining if they are attractive, if they are interested in a relationship with us, and whether we would be compatible. In this chapter we highlight not just the nonverbal signs and signals of attraction, but attempt to articulate a deeper evolutionary derived meaning and reason for them. We examine the static features of faces and bodies that we find attractive, their relationship to health, fertility, and dominance (reproductive fitness), and then move to the dynamic nonverbal actions suggesting romantic interest, such as arousal and engagement, and finish by articulating those nonverbal markers that indicate attention, trust, and commitment. We hope this exploration of the static and dynamic characteristics of people will better illustrate how evolution can explain why and when people are attracted to each other.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Mark G. Frank, Anne Solbu, Zachary R. Glowacki, Zena Toh & Madison Neurohr

Authors
  1. Mark G. Frank
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  2. Anne Solbu
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  3. Zachary R. Glowacki
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  4. Zena Toh
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  5. Madison Neurohr
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Correspondence to Mark G. Frank .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, College of Human Ecology Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Robert J. Sternberg

  2. Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology University of Niš, Niš, Serbia

    Aleksandra Kostić

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Frank, M.G., Solbu, A., Glowacki, Z.R., Toh, Z., Neurohr, M. (2022). The Look of Love: Evolution and Nonverbal Signs and Signals of Attraction. In: Sternberg, R.J., Kostić, A. (eds) Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94492-6_4

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