Have you ever had the strange feeling that your sister would get excited when you saw someone – in a train station, for example? A magical moment when a sensation that’s hard to describe makes your head spin. Some people feel like they have butterflies in their stomachs. You may be facing a fleeting love.
And to think that the person in front of you is a complete stranger. This moment is called love at first sight or crush. The scientific community and academics are divided: is this phenomenon real or is it an illusion? Either way, many people say they have felt this phenomenon, even several times a day.
But what psychological mechanisms are behind these romantic arrow shots?
What characterizes love at first sight?
Well, mainly and as its name suggests, the characteristic of love at first sight is that it is something lightning, instantaneous and strong: a love at first sight, an arrow shot in the heart. When a friend introduces us to someone we are immediately attracted to, or when we meet someone in a bus shelter and we have the instantaneous feeling that we must get to know them no matter what. It can also happen during a fleeting exchange of glances in a bar… love at first sight can happen at any time.
Although many people confuse the two things, love at first sight is not the same as platonic love. Both may have a few things in common, but Plato’s romantic idea refers to a concept of perfect love, sometimes shared, that goes beyond the limits of the flesh and causes enormous difficulties.
The idea of a platonic love can seem like love at first sight because it can seem particularly complicated when two people who have just met each other end up consummating their passion. However, Plato’s idea refers to an absolutely pure and selfless love, in which nothing material has any weight and where the intellectual and moral facets are the basis of common feeling.
In other words, Platonic love is not based on the simple attraction of one individual for another, but this love is centered on goodness and something more spiritual.
Physical signs of love at first sight
It is common knowledge that when we fall in love at first sight, our body secretes a hormone called oxytocin, which makes us more sensitive, more compassionate and puts us in an immediate state of emotional exhilaration.
In addition, there are several clues and signals that can help you know if you have had a love at first sight.
– Sweat. When you are in the presence of the person in question, you feel your temperature rising, your hands sweat, you blush, and a feeling of warmth invades you from the inside. As a result, you may feel a little less confident than usual or perhaps a little overwhelmed by the situation.
– Nervousness. You may feel a little blocked when you’re conversing, words may not come out of your mouth, and your conversation may not be as fluid as it would be under normal circumstances. You may have trouble forming sentences and even say inconsistent things. This can happen because you’re trying to impress the person you like, and because you think too much about what you’re going to say, the exact opposite happens.
– Rising blood pressure. In addition to the two points already mentioned, another characteristic of the crush – or love at first sight – is that blood pressure rises sharply. It can be compared to an injection of adrenaline caused by being in the presence of someone you really like.
– If, for one reason or another, you haven’t been able to talk to him or her, when you get home you will constantly think: what is the name of that woman or man I ran into? Why didn’t I have the courage to talk to her? Am I going to meet her or him again?
– After several days of such redundant thoughts, you will begin to feel a little “silly” because this love at first sight might be just a simple attraction for someone you don’t even know, whereas true love is born when there is a connection with the other person not only on a physical level, but also on an emotional level. It is possible that you may realize that this obsession is not worth it.
