LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

London: Love at first sight? Only if you have got 8.2 secs’ appeal, say researchers.
A new study has found that the time needed for a man to fall in love at first sight is 8.2 seconds — in fact, the longer a man’s gaze rests on a woman when they meet for the first time, the more interested he is.
And, if it lasts just four seconds, he may not be all that impressed. But if can break the 8.2 second barrier, he could already be in love, it has found.
However, the same is not true for women. They let their eyes linger on men for the same length of time whether they find them attractive or not, leading British newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
According to the researchers, men use eye contact to seek out fit and fertile mates but women are more wary of attracting unwanted attention because of the risks of unwanted pregnancy and single parenthood.
In their study, the researchers used hidden cameras to secretly track the eye movements of 115 students as they spoke to actors and actresses. They were then asked to rate their conversation partner’s attractiveness. The men looked into the eyes of actresses they considered beautiful for an average of 8.2 seconds, but that dropped to 4.5 seconds when gazing at those they rated less attractive, the study found.
The female students, however, were looking at the actors for the same length of time, found the study published in the latest edition of the Archives of Sexual Behaviour journal.
In an unrelated study, researchers have found that romantic love can last a lifetime and lead to happier, healthier relationships.
“Many believe that romantic love is the same as passionate love,” said lead researcher Bianca Acevedo, of University of California, Santa Barbara. “It isn’t. Romantic love has the intensity, engagement and sexual chemistry that passionate love has, minus the obsessive component,” Acevedo added.
Researchers reviewed 25 studies with 6,070 individuals in shortand long-term relationships to find out whether romantic love is associated with more satisfaction.
The researchers found that those who reported greater romantic love were more satisfied in both the short- and long-term relationships. AGENCIES