By Dr. Nero Cavaliere

There is considerable research supporting the notion that individuals fall in love at first sight. It could be the way someone smiles, their voice, mannerisms, even their smell. There are numerous explanations, but one thing is clear; “love at first sight” is not love, although it may lead to the real thing, which we call romantic love.  It’s the physical attractiveness, initial impressions that one receives from the other party.

Realistically, only about eleven percent of strong initial reciprocal attractions are “love at first sight”.  This means that the possibility of two individuals experiencing “love at first sight” is not as common as many people believe it to be.  One party may be strongly attracted to another party, but with no reciprocation. Remember what I said in a previous blog about relationships between two people and how one always cares more than the other. “Love at first sight” must be reciprocal. Both parties must experience the same emotion to the same degree.  Using Carl Jung’s psychological theory of the Archetype, “love at first sight” would be explained as the interaction of the female’s animus and the male’s anima. According to Jung, the animus is the male aspect of the female and the anima, the female aspect of the male. The Archetype was Jung’s way of explaining the remnants of our prehistoric heritage stored in the personal unconscious and understanding the basic forces in human nature. Falling in love at first sight would be the experience a man has when meeting a woman who appears to be the living embodiment of his anima, his ideal of a female,  or, in the case of a woman, a man who embodies her animus.

So, what does this mean?  It implies that, for the most part, the initial feelings of one individual towards another must be recognized for what it is: attraction.  It can be the starting point of a meaningful relationship if both parties are willing to invest their time in nurturing that relationship, or it could  simply fulfill the motives driving the attraction such as lust, and expect nothing else.  The fact remains, the strength of romantic love depends on the strength of the emotion each feels, the time they spend nurturing the relationship, and the commitment they are willing to make to each other.