Attraction explained: The science of how we form relationships

Can science explain how we form relationships? This talk looks at how geography, physical appearance, reciprocity, and similarity all affect who we fall for and why.

When it comes to relationships, there’s 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 this talk, Prof Viren Swami, one of the world’s leading experts in the psychology of romantic attraction, debunks these myths and draws on cutting-edge science to provide a ground-breaking and evidence-based account of relationship formation.

He'll present a very simple idea: that there are no ‘laws of attraction’, no foolproof methods or strategies for getting someone to date you.

But this isn’t to say that there’s nothing to be gained from studying attraction. Based on science rather than self-help clichés, Prof Swami looks at how factors such as geography, physical appearance, reciprocity, and similarity affect who we fall for and why.

This talk is part of our Psychology Master Class series running in March and April 2023.