Scientists Found That Initial Romantic Attraction May Follow the Same Mental Rules as Everyday Decisions

Initial romantic attraction may follow the same mental rules as everyday decisions, according to new research published in Cognitive Science. The study, titled “Psychological Value Theory: Predicting Initial Romantic Partner Choice From a General-Purpose, Computational Cognitive Model of Value-Based Choice,” was authored by Dale J. Cohen, Tyler D. White, and Shanhong Luo. It found that a computational model rooted in Psychological Value Theory could predict both who people chose as hypothetical romantic partners and how quickly they made those decisions.

For years, scientists have cataloged which traits people tend to seek or avoid in partners. Far less clear has been how the brain actually blends those likes and dislikes into a single choice. The new study suggests that romantic decisions are not special cases but part of a broader system the mind uses to weigh options.

General decision rules in romance

The research team, led by Dale J. Cohen of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, tested whether a general-purpose value-based model could explain partner selection. Psychological Value Theory proposes that people assign subjective value to different options and then choose the one with the highest overall value.

To test this idea, the researchers conducted two experiments using written profiles of potential romantic partners. In the first experiment, participants compared profiles that differed by only one characteristic at a time, allowing the researchers to determine how strongly each individual trait influenced partner choice.

The second experiment presented participants with more realistic profiles containing multiple positive and negative characteristics. This enabled the researchers to examine how people combine different pieces of information when making quick judgments about potential partners.

One powerful trait can dominate

Across both experiments, the computational model performed remarkably well, explaining more than 85 percent of the variation in both participants’ choices and the time they took to make those decisions. The researchers say this level of accuracy suggests the model captures key aspects of the mental processes involved in early romantic attraction.

Importantly, the findings did not support the idea that people simply add together every positive and negative quality before making a choice. Instead, the results were most consistent with what the researchers call a Biased Average process, in which one especially desirable characteristic has a disproportionately large influence on the final evaluation.

In practical terms, this means that a single exceptional trait—such as extraordinary kindness or very high physical attractiveness—may outweigh several moderately positive qualities. During the earliest stages of attraction, one standout feature may effectively anchor a person's overall impression and drive their decision.

Implications and limitations

The authors argue that the findings provide a computational framework for understanding how people make initial romantic choices. If the same value-based mechanisms guide many types of decisions, similar models could eventually help explain behaviors such as swiping on dating apps, speed dating, or other forms of rapid partner selection.

However, the study relied on hypothetical written profiles rather than real-life interactions. Genuine romantic attraction also involves chemistry, facial expressions, body language, conversation, shared experiences, and social context—factors that are difficult to recreate in laboratory experiments.

The researchers also emphasize that their work focuses only on first impressions and initial partner choice, not on what sustains long-term relationships. Future research could explore how these early evaluations change over time and whether different qualities become more or less important as relationships develop.

Article prepared by Victoria Caldwell.