‘Eye’ love you! Study finds eyes can reveal if its love or lust

How do you know if he loves you? According to singer Cher, “it’s in his kiss,” however, a new study begs to differ.

The research, published by the University of Chicago in partnership with the University of Geneva, reported stark differences in subjects eye movements depending on whether they said they were feeling sexual desire or romantic love.

The study, published in the journal of Psychological Science, found that eye patterns concentrate on a stranger’s face if the viewer sees that person as a potential partner in romantic love, but the viewer gazes more at the other person’s body if he or she is feeling sexual desire. That automatic judgment can occur in as little as half a second, producing different gaze patterns, according to the study.

Scientists brought male and female students at the University of Geneva. They made the participants look at black-and-white photos of strangers, after seeing each photo, and participants had to say whether the photo evoked romantic love or sexual desire. In a later part of the study, participants did the same thing, but were told to simply think about their choice, while a computer tracked their eye movements.

“Visual attention reflects, in part, the features of a stimulus that are most relevant to a person’s intentions or goals,” the study explains.