Hello, I’m Maddy. Welcome to my blog! I’m going to be writing about psychology, and any other scientific topic that interests me!

“What is love?” asked the singer Haddaway in 1993, as well as plenty of people before and since then. Recently I heard Dr. Helen Fisher, Rutgers University anthropologist and the brains behind dating site chemistry.com, speak at the New York Academy of Sciences. She shed some light on the complex issue of why we humans fall in love with one person rather than another. (Dr. Fisher’s latest book is called Why Him? Why Her?) Despite the common belief that true love is simply made from magic, Dr. Fisher showed us that there is a tentative formula for this essential aspect of the human experience.

Fisher’s research has found that romantic love can be broken down into three parts, lust or sex drive, romantic attraction, and attachment. Each plays an important role in falling, and staying, in love. Dr. Fisher realized, through data gathered from personality tests completed at chemistry.com, that there are four different human personality types, each indicating higher levels of a specific chemical in the brain. The Explorer type, having a high level of dopamine, is adventurous, spontaneous, and creative, while the Builder type, having a high level of serotonin, is traditional, rule-driven, and cautious. The Director type, having a high level of testosterone, is logical, aggressive, and tough-minded, while the Negotiator type, having a high level of estrogen, is empathetic, big-picture focused, and idealistic. According to Fisher, there is a mix of all of these personality traits within each person; however, two types are dominant. For example, it is possible to be an Explorer/Negotiator, as Fisher herself says she is.

Fisher has found that depending on a person’s personality type, it is possible to predict with whom he or she will most likely fall in love. Explorers are generally attracted to Explorers, and Builders to Builders. However, Negotiators are attracted to Directors, and Directors are likewise attracted to Negotiators. This is a perfect example of opposites attracting, a concept famously used in romantic movies, books, and plays ranging over the centuries. It happens, says Fisher, because the personality traits associated with each type are perfectly balanced by those of the other type.

For example, Negotiators are often bad decision makers who easily change their minds, while Directors are quick, logical decision makers who don’t let emotion get in their way. A perfect example is the relationship between the Director Hillary Clinton, and her Negotiator husband, Bill. This can be a formula for the success of a complementary relationship, or the disaster of constant disagreement. I found the entire phenomenon that love can be boiled down to chemistry (in the scientific sense) extremely interesting. With that in mind, I decided to commission some of my friends to complete Fisher's personality test, in order to find out if her research truly holds up in our day-to-day lives.

Go to chemistry.com to take Dr. Fisher’s personality test for yourself, and learn who you are, and whom your best match might be!

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