{"id":13057,"date":"2016-06-20T19:29:17","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T02:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datemixstaging.wpengine.com\/?p=13057"},"modified":"2023-06-13T01:36:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T08:36:30","slug":"summer-love-real-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-statistics-and-research\/science-love\/summer-love-real-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Love Is a Real Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official first day of summer is here, and if you\u2019re single, you know what that means: It\u2019s time for summer love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summer love has been sung about by everyone from Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta to Andre 3000. It\u2019s referenced to death on TV, in movies, and in pop culture. Still, every year, we can\u2019t help it: When the warm weather creeps in, it sends a signal to our bodies that we need to free ourselves from the darkness of winter and get out there and mingle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summer is filled with opportunities to meet people. It\u2019s an incredibly social season! Just think of all the barbecues, vacations, pool days, and impromptu happy hours that occur during the summer simply because it\u2019s sunny out. You meet new and exciting people at these gatherings, and often times, you hit it off. It\u2019s that mystery and intrigue of someone new that sparks summer love. But there\u2019s also a scientific aspect to that kind of intense short-term attraction\u2014yes, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKeeping each other guessing increases the production of dopamine, a hormone associated with excitement and anticipation that makes couples feel more sexually attracted to each other,\u201d says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/sex-and-love\/summer-sex\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scott Haltzman, M.D. and author<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On top of that, our skin is exposed to more sunlight, which triggers our bodies to produce mood-boosting dopamine, serotonin, and a hormone called MSH. We show a lot more skin and dress more casually in the summer. We bare our arms and legs instead of hiding underneath sweaters. We slip our feet into sandals instead of cramming them into boots. And we find ourselves with many occasions to wear a bathing suit. When we meet someone at the beach wearing just a bikini or swim trunks, there\u2019s high potential for sexual arousal. Plus, seeing that much skin sends a signal to our brains that the person is lighthearted and fun\u2014the perfect summer love interest. Chances are you take people you meet at the beach less seriously than you would if they were covered up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTime spent with someone increases attraction in general\u2014in a classroom, at the workplace, et cetera,\u201d explains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.livescience.com\/37708-does-summer-love-really-exist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Catherine Sanderson<\/a>, a psychology professor at Amherst College. \u201cBut it also means that people may feel more free to engage in romantic and sexual experiences if \u2018on break\u2019 from their real life. You can see this anecdotally with spring break and summer romances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another reason we\u2019re so casual in the summer is because it doesn\u2019t carry the stress of the holidays like the winter does. Yes, we celebrate Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day, but those don\u2019t come with nearly the same amount of pressure to be hitched that Thanksgiving and Christmas do. (Not to mention that New Year\u2019s Eve and Valentine\u2019s Day follow shortly after.) Summer is for short-term attachments and having fun, not worrying if the person you\u2019re seeing will invite you to spend the holidays with their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept of summer love might seem subjective, but there\u2019s actually data to back it up. According to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.livescience.com\/37708-does-summer-love-really-exist.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook statistics from 2010 and 2011<\/a>, an increased number of breakups (indicated by a changed relationship status) occurred between May and August, across all age groups. People tend to break things off at the beginning of summer so they can enjoy the ride unattached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can fall in love at any given moment, but it\u2019s just more common in the summer. Think about it: When it\u2019s cold out, we don\u2019t participate in as many activities. We scurry home at the end of the day, longing to be comfortable and warm. Our moods are lower too, due to less sunlight. So when summer hits, we\u2019re itching to start something up. We\u2019re naturally drawn to summer flings because they don\u2019t typically come with complicated emotions\u2014just casual fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou don\u2019t have to wonder, \u2018Where is this going?\u2019 \u2018Is he the one for me?\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shape.com\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.shape.com\/\">psychologist and relationship expert Jane Greer<\/a> explains of summer love. \u201cIt hits you quickly\u2014everything is packaged all together, and you already know what\u2019s going to happen. There\u2019s a certain wild abandon that can be very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to have fun this summer but aren\u2019t ready to commit to something serious, get out there and flirt your way to a summer fling. Just know what you\u2019re getting into and make sure you\u2019re on the same page as your new flame. Otherwise, someone\u2019s feelings could get hurt come Labor Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thinking of having a summer fling? There might be a scientific reason for it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":13058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-love"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Summer Love Is a Real Thing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wondering if summer love really is possible or if it&#039;s just an over-hyped fantasy? We&#039;ve looked into this and the scientific aspects behind the phenomenon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-statistics-and-research\/science-love\/summer-love-real-thing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer Love Is a Real Thing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wondering if summer love really is possible or if it&#039;s just an over-hyped fantasy? We&#039;ve looked into this and the scientific aspects behind the phenomenon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-statistics-and-research\/science-love\/summer-love-real-thing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Date Mix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoosk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-21T02:29:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-13T08:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2016\/06\/20192831\/summer-love.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Entenman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/elizabenten\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Zoosk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Entenman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Summer Love Is a Real Thing","description":"Wondering if summer love really is possible or if it's just an over-hyped fantasy? 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Based in Brooklyn, she's written about a variety of topics related to online dating, love, single life, and relationships. In her spare time, you'll likely find her somewhere Instagramming her dogs! You can find some of her other work at EliteSingles and SilverSingles. Elizabeth has been working with Zoosk to create engaging content to help online daters make meaningful connections and find lasting relationships.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.elizabethentenman.com\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/elizabenten"],"url":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/author\/eentenman\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}