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emotion
Fear and attraction often feel exactly the same.
A 1974 study found that men were significantly more likely to call a female interviewer after crossing a scary suspension bridge.
The high physiological arousal from fear was misinterpreted as intense romantic interest. Your brain often assigns the wrong source to your current physical state.
Your feelings are often just a guess about your body's chemistry.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Dutton and Aron, 1974, Misattribution of Arousal
- What the check found
- The claim accurately reflects the widely cited findings of Dutton and Aron (1974). While the study's generalizability is debated, the reported result of the experiment itself is correctly summarized.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.