popular media approaches question of biology of courtship, with reference to some experts:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicki-larson/picking-the-wrong-mate_b_873044.html

"But who can blame her? She, like so many women -- and men -- pick a mate based on pretty predictable factors, dating back to caveman days when all we were trying to do was survive and keep our species going, according to physical anthropologist and Why Him? Why Her? author Helen Fisher, who has been studying human courtship for decades. We're drawn to guys like Weiner because they have good genes we can pass on to our kids. The downside is that we take a huge risk on whether he's going to be sexually faithful to us.

At the same time, who can blame the women who flirted with Weiner and who commented on how "hot" he is; women are more attracted to guys in relationships because they have "proven they can commit," says Ian Kerner, a sex and relationship therapist, and author (She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman). It's likely that we'll see more male poaching in the future -- "research shows that in societies where women are economically powerful, the more sexually and socially aggressive they are," says Fisher."


The Drive to Love: The Neural Mechanism for Mate Selection.Detail Only Available Fisher, Helen; In: The new psychology of love. Sternberg, Robert J. (Ed.); Weis, Karin (Ed.); New Haven, CT, US: Yale University Press, 2006. pp. 87-115. [Chapter]
Subjects: Human Courtship; Love; Neuroimaging; Physiological Correlates; Romance
Database: PsycINFO


Romantic love: an fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice.Detail Only Available (eng; includes abstract) By Fisher H, Aron A, Brown LL, The Journal Of Comparative Neurology [J Comp Neurol], ISSN: 0021-9967, 2005 Dec 5; Vol. 493 (1), pp. 58-62; PMID: 16255001
Subjects: Brain physiology; Love; Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Adolescent: 13-18 years; Adult: 19-44 years; All Child: 0-18 years; All Adult: 19+ years; Female; Male
Database: MEDLINE

Romantic love: a mammalian brain system for mate choice.Detail Only Available (eng; includes abstract) By Fisher HE, Aron A, Brown LL, Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London. Series B, Biological Sciences [Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci], ISSN: 0962-8436, 2006 Dec 29; Vol. 361 (1476), pp. 2173-86; PMID: 17118931
Subjects: Brain physiology; Love; Mating Preference, Animal physiology; Sexual Behavior physiology
Database: MEDLINE

(From the abstract: "Mammals and birds regularly express mate preferences and make mate choices. Data on mate choice among mammals suggest that this behavioural 'attraction system' is associated with dopaminergic reward pathways in the brain. It has been proposed that intense romantic love, a human cross-cultural universal, is a developed form of this attraction system.... Romantic attraction in humans and its antecedent in other mammalian species play a primary role: this neural mechanism motivates individuals to focus their courtship energy on specific others, thereby conserving valuable time and metabolic energy, and facilitating mate choice."
posted by Lloyd at 2:20 PM