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Jade Montoya and Joe Laureanti are what most would consider the average, young Tempe couple. Despite their occasional arguments, they have been together for 11 months.
They met in the least romantic of settings: a Pizza Hut.
On a night last week, they sat together in Montoya's apartment, unintentionally mirroring each other's body language, giggling at each other and play fighting.
Montoya was in a relationship the first time she met Laureanti, but that didn't stop him from aggressively pursuing her.
"First time I saw her, I was like 'that's gonna be my new girlfriend,'" Laureanti says.
Montoya describes her father as a tall, skinny man with lighter skin. Laureanti describes his mother as a tiny Mexican woman with dark hair.
The couple gives each other an uneasy smirk.
In Psychology 101, Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory is hard to grasp. Students might think the idea of a child being attracted to his or her parent is downright creepy. However, a 2003 study at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland concluded that we are ultimately seeking a mate with a face that gave us security and love during childhood - that of mom or dad.
But Freud isn't the only one with theories on what biologically attracts people to one another. Scientific reasons for steamy romance are plentiful.
In fact, attraction may have less to do with our parents than ourselves. The same University of St. Andrews study instructed several students to have a picture taken of their faces. The photo was then altered to make the subject look like a member of the opposite sex. When the students were told to decide which face they liked best in a series of photos, they almost always picked the altered picture of themselves.
And physical characteristics are not the only factors that affect levels of attraction, says ASU psychology professor Douglas Kenrick. "People prefer someone who is at their level of intelligence, social status, physical attractiveness, and certainly who shares their political beliefs," he says.In a 2005 study conducted at Liverpool University in Liverpool, England, students and staff were shown various faces of the opposite sex and were instructed to select the ones that were the best looking. The study found that females more often selected feminine-looking men than masculine-looking ones. Experts believe this occurs because feminine men are characterized as being caring - the kind of person who would be willing to settle down and have kids, and who would be less likely to stray from a relationship.
But if masculine men are more likely to be unfaithful, they aren't the only ones. Kenrick says women are more likely to stray from their relationships when they're ovulating. During this time period, they may subconsciously seek out men who are highly physically attractive, muscular and self-confident - men with "good genes." During all other times, Kenrick says women are more likely to look for men who are financially secure, warm and loving - traits that would make them good fathers.
In addition, a 1995 study at the University of Texas in Austin found that while women usually fall for personality traits, men are visual creatures. While skin color, weight and height preference vary among cultures and throughout history, a certain female hip-to-waist ratio seems to be the preference of men across the board.
Better known as the "hourglass figure," the UT study found that men generally think a 0.7 hip-to-waist ratio in women - meaning that the waist circumference is 70 percent of the hip circumference - is most attractive. Researchers have linked this ratio to increased female fertility.
Ideas of attraction are programmed into the mind on a subconscious level. Though many students would be disgusted by the idea of dressing up for a hot night on the town with a mom or dad look-alike, according to many theorists, that may be exactly what they're doing without realizing it.
There are no clear or definite reasons for why one person is attracted to another, but whether it's a form of vanity or just a matter of finding another mom or dad, Montoya and Laureanti are secure in their relationship.
"Luckily he doesn't look that much like my dad," Montoya says.
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