People across South Devon are being urged to recognise the look of love this Valentine’s Day.
This comes as a new survey shows that 69% of people in the South West believe in love at first sight, while 56% think theeyes are the biggest indicator when falling in love – meaningfirst impressions may be more powerful than people think.
According to the heartwarming poll of 2,000 people by Specsavers, more than half (51%) of South West relationships that began with love at first sight are still going strong.
The phenomenon is a popular one – with nearly half of South West adults (45%) agreeing that love at first sight is the most romantic way to meet your partner, while a third (30%) saying they have fallen for someone in the past as soon as they laid eyes on them.
Giles Edmonds, Clinical Services Director at Specsavers said:‘They say the eyes are a window to the soul, and now we can see just how important they are when it comes to falling in love. With the power to send hidden romantic messages and pick up on subtle amorous cues, neglecting the wellbeing of our sight could mean missing out on love. By ensuring yourclarity of vision this Valentine’s Day, you’ll be making sure that “the one” doesn’t slip away unnoticed.’
Nearly nine in ten (86%) of us understand the importance of maintaining good eye contact during the early stages of dating a potential partner.
So Specsavers has partnered up with body language expert Judi James to provide tips on how to spot if someone is interested in you. For those looking for love, they could help to spot those subtle cues from that special someone.
According to Judi, the neurological reasons behind love at first sight are complex. Love at first sight happens when a hugely complex, computer-like perception process occurs in a matter of seconds, coming up with the emotional equivalent of a jackpot.
She says: ‘Imagine a fruit machine where the cogs keep spinning round with multiple combinations before suddenly and dramatically arriving at the four bells, when the world goes crazy.
‘Instant love is usually based on thousands of memories that accrue in our lives. All the “ideal” personality traits, visual stimulus and role models that we’ve got stored away will suddenly seem to be encompassed in this one person we’re looking at.
‘It’s very rarely primarily about looks in the traditional sense. What affects us on a deeper level will be communicated signals of personality traits like humour, confidence, kindness, fun, intellect, warmth or empathy.
‘The way they look will be important to the process, but it’s more about body language than body idealism. They will usually look similar to someone we have seen before in our lives which will allow us to attribute that person’s positive traits to them too.
‘This is called the attribution effect, and it’s an emotional bombshell that is akin to the normal process of the first impression or what we call a gut reaction.’
‘Without a doubt, most of the symptoms of love at first sight are created via the eyes – it starts and sometimes ends with the eye connection.’
‘The phrase “their eyes met across a crowded room” is more than just a cliché – it really does happen. If your eyes meet and then everything else seems to signal compatibility, we really can experience love at first sight.
‘We fall in love because our eyes speak to each other in a complex way that we don’t often understand ourselves.’
To help those seeking romance his Valentines Day, Judi has provided six top tips on how spot if someone is falling in love with you:
Six clear signs that someone is falling in love at first sight by Judi James
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