The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, Feburary 14, 2007
The science behind why she won't be your Valentine
Unknown Unknowns I Science Column
Wednesday , 2007 - The Michigan Da
QUOTES OF THE WEEK "She was raised to be a rich
man's wife. Instead she
I don't know. If you go becomes the president of the
back to my speech, I most powerful university in
think I may have. I'm the world."
he was the starry-eyed beau-
ty, he the prince in shining
spacesuit. Gripped by a love
exceeding the bounds of the Earth,
she drove fast through the dark
lands to reunite with her hero, her
Commander.
Sometimes these stories just
write themselves. The country was
transfixed last week by the news of
NASA astronaut Capt. Lisa Nowak
and her murderous, diapered drive
from Houston to Orlando. Her goal:
to remove a rival from the picture
and win the heart of fellow astro-
naut Cmdr. Bill Oefelein. But what
is this freakish phenomenon that
drives even the ones with The Right
Stuff off the deep end?
Stated scientifically, what states
of the brain and body are associat-
ed with this little thing called love?
Can it even be understood scientifi-
cally? That is, without dissecting
it and leaving it lifeless in a jar
formaldehyde?
Sure it can. And researche
have made great headway alread
Capt. Nowak's desire for Cmd
Oefelein may have been intensifie
chemically, by the fact that he w
involved with another woman.
study published by the Royal Soc
ety of Britain in December demo
strated just this effect.
Benedict Jones of the Unive
sity of Aberdeen and his colleagu
showed that women rate a man.
more attractive if there is anoth
woman smiling at him.
Crudely, this works out to 1
a "hot commodity effect," ar
could be a more efficient means
selecting mates. A woman canta
advantage of the effect by allo'
ing her sisters to spend time ar
resources picking the best availab
men. Once a desirable man is ide
of tified, women descend upon the
hapless stud en masse.
rs This occurs regularly on cam-
ly. pus, though women may be loath
Jr. to admit it. "There's nothing as
d, attractive about a man as know-
as ing that someone else wants him,"
A
ci-
n- Can love be
r- reduced to a
tes
as biology
Ler -
experiment?
nd
of a double-X-chromosomed source
ke admitted to me.
w- But the story gets more compli-
nd cated. The elusive qualities that
le describe what women want may be
n- a moving target. Professor Daniel
Kruger at the Institute for Social
Research divides men into the cat-
egories "cads" and "dads," with
women preferring different types
at different times. Cads are the bad
boys that have the most partners
- the jerks that women hate them-
selves for loving. Dads are the pro-
verbial nice guys who stick around
and support the family.
"People might be in college won-
dering why do women go for these
jerks. Why in the world do girls
fall for the guy? They're not really
looking for someone to settle down
with yet, just looking to explore,"
Kruger said.
It turns out that mate prefer-
ence shifts according to the type
of relationship the female wants.
If it's a short-term relationship,
like a brief sexual affair, prefer-
ences shift to highly masculine,
socially dominant men. Eventu-
ally, when women are thinking
about settling down, the guys
who aren't socially dominant get
their chance.
But if cads make bad fathers,
wouldn't their children be at a dis-
advantage and thus remove them-
selves (and cad-ism) from the gene
pool? The "sexy son" hypothesis
explainswhycadsmaypersist. Cads
are specialized to do one thing best:
mate. Even though women are at a
disadvantage raising a child with
an absentee father, women are still
attracted to cads because of the
likelihood of producing reproduc-
tively successful sons - future cads
in the making. And so the cycle of
sexiness lives on.
And that sexiness doesn't come
cheap. "Hypermasculine features
are the'human analogue of a pea-
cock's tail," Kruger said. "They're
costly because the degree of mas-
culinity is related to testosterone
levels."
Costly in the sense that excess
testosterone is harmful to the body
because it suppresses immune
response. The masochistic logic of
natural selection is that if a man
can keep up the damaging regimen
of coursing testosterone through
his veins, he must be in good shape
and genetically fit.
Once mates are chosen, the
hormone oxytocin plays a role in
maintaining the relationship. This
chemical, found in the brain and
the peripheral body, has been con-
sistently linked to social interac-
tion and intimacy.
Experiments with oxytocin nasal
sprays increased trust in the sub-
See SCIENCE OF LOVE, page 76
TALKING
POINTS
Three things you can talk about this week:
1. Harvard's new president
2. Presidential candidates who've announced, who
haven't announced and who aren't sure if they've
announced
3. The Frieze Building
not sure. I think I did,
I'm not sure. I don't
know what formally
means."
- RUDY GIULIANI responding ques-
tioning about whether he had for-
mally announced his presidential
candidacy.
- ELIZABETH WARREN, a Harvard professor and
friend of Drew Faust, who was appointed as Har-
vard's first-ever female president.
"If it weren't for rape, how
would (ugly women) ever
know the joy of intercourse
with a man who isn't drunk?"
- A controvesrial editorial published in the Central Con-
necticut State University student paper. The piece, meant
to be a satire on free speech, triggered vehement protest.
And three things you can't:
1. Your GSI's accent
2. Valentine's Day
3. Anna Nicole Smith
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Y.OUTUBE
VIDEO OF
THE WEEK
"Best Scenes From
'The Wicker Man'"
Don't tell me there aren't art-
ists on YouTube. A user has turned
the stunningly callous remake of
"The Wicker Man" from an offen-
sive horror film into one of the best
comedies I've ever seen.
Nicolas Cage has always been
an overactor, but here his efforts
are hilariously theatrical, and this
montage helpfully pieces together
his worst moments. Whether he's
pointing a gun at a confused young
woman ("Step awayfromthebike!")
or getting attacked by a bag of bees,
the video ingeniously constructs
the film's most absurd sequences
into a two-minute clip that's better
entertainment than Nic Cage has
managed in years.
The best part? The film's pen-
chant for violence against women
is repulsive in the actual movie, but
in this video there's nothing like
seeing Cage pelt a cult leader while
wearing a giant bear suit. It gets me
every time.
JEFFREYBLOOMER
See this and other YouTube videos
of the week at
youtube.com/user/michigandaily
BY THE NUMBERS
Percent increase in motorcycle crashes from 2001 to 2005 among rid-
ers over 45 years old. Crashes among riders under 45 declined by 6 per-
cent in the same period
Number of people killed in motorcycle crashes in 2005, an increase
of 50 percent from the previous year. There were about 3,500 motor-
cycle accidents in 2005.
Percent increase in motorcycle fatalities from 2001 to 2005 among
baby-boomer riders, a group that accounts for nearly two-thirds of all
motorcyclists.
Source: University of Michigan news service andthe Michigan Secretary of State
Chinese New Year - Tomorrow is the first day of
the new lunar year. If you're of age, celebrate by
kicking back some imported Chinese beer. If not,
green tea?
Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStatement@umich.edu
PERSON OF THE WEEK
TED HAGGARD
Elimbefl Anderson
John Rawls Collegiate Professor of
Philosophy and Women's Studies
Thursday, February 15, 2007
4:10pm
LSA Alumni Association Founders Room
With just three weeks of counseling,
exiled evangelist Rev. Ted Haggard,
who says he was once gay, has prayed
himself straight, according to an inter-
view last week. The former president of
the National Association of Evangelicals
and senior pastor at New Life Church
in Colorado faced a rapid career change
after admitting to hiringa male prostitute
while away on solo book-writing retreats in
a Denver hotel. Was this miracle evidence
that the love of Jesus can banish homo-
sexuality? Or was it just more proof that
brainwashing techniques coupled with
a lifetime of self-hatred are a potent
combination?