Many authors dispute the existence of love at first sight, including the French semiologist Roland Barthes. For him, it is necessary to speak more of “rapture”, of “kidnapping”, even of “enamoration” according to a term which he himself proposed as a neologism. He disputes the existence of a moment which takes completely by surprise the future individual in love, pointing out that this one is always in a state of waiting, of amorous availability. According to this last theory, the individual subjected to love at first sight would unconsciously wander his curiosity on the lookout for novelty, “future passions” and “finding that the happiness deserved by the excellence of his soul is too late in coming”¹.

Likewise, in his work Of love, Stendhal refutes the existence of an instantaneity of the surge of love and enumerates the existence of several phases in the birth of such a passion.

For Nicolas Duruz, this supposed moment crystallizes the desire for metamorphosis in the individual² : the potential partner has almost a redemptive value insofar as we see in him the healer of wounds, the one who will be able to fill an existential void, the savior. According to the author, marital crises occur when the “love at first sight” wears off and the two individuals realize that the hoped-for magic did not really take place. ” Contrary to what one had believed during the first hours, the first days, at most the first months of the enchantment, the other did not transform you. The wall you crash into after the turn is the wall of yourself. Himself: as mean, mean and mediocre as before. Magical healing did not take place. The sores are still there; the nightmares start again. And we blame the other for not having been refurbished; that love has not solved all the problems of existence. ” Nancy Huston, The Footprint of the Angel.

People are strongly drawn to those who are physically like them. When we mix a face with certain elements of its own face, it appears to us more attractive and more trustworthy.^3-5 .

The attraction between people is positively correlated with the similarity of personalities, in other words each one is able to perceive the personality of another of the simple glance.^6-7 . People of the same culture, of the same economic and social status increase their chances of being attracted to each other^8-9 . The adage “birds of a feather flock together” therefore seems globally validated by research.

Couples who are physically similar are said to have a stronger relationship and stability than couples with large physical disparities^{10-11-12 – available only in Polish!}. 

The shaky legs, the beating heart, the rosy cheeks… The meaning of love at first sight is undoubtedly questionable (can we really fall in love instantly? Isn’t it just a simple but powerful attraction?) But its existence seems attested by several clinically observable signs. Several substances such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, vasopressin and the NGF protein play a major role in the lightning strike phenomenon by acting on the entire human body.

Fortunately, not everything is just a set of biological variations in love …

While half of people say they have already felt love at first sight, only 10% of couples would have built themselves from such a phenomenon.¹³.

The reason is simple: love at first sight is in no way a guarantee of happiness. The hormones that cause feelings of euphoria do not persist over time, and they must therefore be replaced by other mechanisms that may fail if the two elements of the couple do not give themselves the means or to do so. they are opposed too strongly on various points.

We can also explain this low percentage by the fact that people who experience love at first sight often prefer to follow the path they have taken, even if it means sometimes expressing some regret. 

An Ifop poll for Happn titled ” The French and love at first sight in the street »Allowed to take note of the following statistics.

To the question “Do you happen to be attracted by a stranger you meet in the street?” “

12% answered “Yes, this happens to me often or regularly”;

47% answered “Exceptionally yes”.

To the question “Have you ever approached a stranger in the street that attracted you?” “

6% answered “yes once”;

13% answered “yes sometimes”;

80% answered “no never”.

A survey published by the Ipsos Institute for the Observatory of Happiness shows that:

75% of French people believe in love at first sight;

52% of French people have already experienced it. 

« My heart opened to a thousand feelings of pleasure, of which I had never imagined. Sweet warmth spread through all my veins. ” Manon Lescaut.