Why Algorithms Can’t Predict Your Love Life with Dr. Paul Eastwick

Modern dating can feel like a marketplace. We’re told we all have a “mate value,” that some people are 9s and 10s, and that the laws of evolution determine who gets chosen — and who gets rejected. But what if we’ve misunderstood what evolutionary science actually says about love?

Dr. Laurie sits down with social psychologist Dr. Paul Eastwick, author of Bondedby Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection, to challenge some of the most pervasive myths about attraction and compatibility. Do dating app algorithms actually know who's right for you? Are we really all placed in different "leagues"? If you’ve ever wondered whether love is destiny, biology, or something you can actually create, Dr. Eastwick offers a surprising new perspective.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Bondedby Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection

“ThePairing Game: A Classroom Demonstration of the Matching Phenomenon”

“Matchingfor Attractiveness in Romantic Partners and Same-Sex Friends: A Meta-Analysis and Theoretical Critique”

“TheSocial Relations Model”

“Once More: Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? Relative contributions of private and shared taste to judgments of facial attractiveness”

“SexDifferences in Mate Preferences Revisited: Do People Know What They Initially Desire in a Romantic Partner?”

“NorthwesternSpeed-dating Study I”

“NorthwesternSpeed-dating Study II”

“The(Mental) Ties That Bind: Cognitive Structures That Predict Relationship Resilience”

“We’reNot That Choosy: Emerging Evidence of a Progression Bias in Romantic Relationships”

“RomanticRelationship Status Biases Memory of Faces of Attractive Opposite-Sex Others: Evidence from a Reverse-Correlation Paradigm”

“RelationshipRegulation in the Face of Eye Candy: a Motivated Cognition Framework for Understanding Responses to Attractive Alternatives”

“Perceived, not actual, similarity predicts initial attraction in a live romantic context: Evidence from the speed-dating paradigm”

“IsRomantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction”

“LoveFactually”

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