Mood & Attraction

Dear Yvonne, Is it true that a person's mood can influence their attraction to somebody?

-- Conal

Dear Conal, Our mood can influence our romantic attraction. Feelings like being calm, tense, content, or anxious, as well as body states like pain or pleasure, contribute to our mood and influence our romantic feelings for someone, despite the fact that we're not always aware of this backdrop of emotions and motivations for love. Being happy, excited, curious, or satisfied is going to make us show more interest in and be friendlier with others than if we are sad or depressed.

Furthermore, people respond positively to everyone and everything that makes them feel good. Through conditioning, we connect an individual with a good feeling, which continues to generate the same emotion in us. For example, a person is likelier to like a stranger who is around when receiving good news. A connection is made between the good news and the stranger, even if the person is not responsible for the good news or mood it creates. Good music and movies have also been found to influence how attractive we find others.

Dr. Yvonne KristAn Fulbright is a sex educator, relationship expert, columnist and founder of Sexuality Source Inc. She is the author of several books including, "Touch Me There! A Hands-On Guide to Your Orgasmic Hot Spots."