双语：坠入爱河需要多长时间呢？

How long does it take to fall in love?

They call it "chemistry", but falling in love isn't a perfect science. It's different for everyone and relies on all sorts of factors, from how physically attractive you find someone to whether you feel comfortable in their presence.

他们称之为“来电的感觉”，但坠入爱河并不是一门完美的科学。这对每个人来说都不一样，而且取决于各种各样的因素，从你觉得某人的外表有多吸引人，到你在他们身边是否感到自在。

Still, research has shed some light on what is happening in the brain when we do feel those first butterflies –and the amount of time it takes for people to fall in love.

尽管如此，研究还是让我们对当我们最初感受到那种心动时大脑中发生的事情，以及人们坠入爱河所需的时间有了一些了解。

A 2013 survey conducted by YouGov and dating site eHarmony found that the time taken from the first date to saying "I love you" differs between men and women. The average time for men to fall in love is 88 days, while those same feelings of true love take women 134 days. Another dating site, Elite Singles, did a poll in 2017 and found that 61 per cent of women believe in love at first sight, while 72 per cent of men do.

2013年，舆观调查网（YouGov）和约会网站eHarmony进行的一项调查发现，从第一次约会到说出“我爱你”，男性和女性所花的时间是不同的。男性坠入爱河的平均时间是88天，而女性产生同样的真爱感觉则需要134天。另一个约会网站“精英单身人士”（Elite Singles）在2017年进行了一项民意调查，发现61%的女性相信一见钟情，而相信一见钟情的男性比例为72%。

How does love affect the brain?

爱对大脑有怎样的影响呢？

Neurologically speaking, the bonds we feel that we know as love are due to the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin, which activate the reward centre in our brain. These take a fraction of a second to reach the brain, and some studies have shown that just looking at a person you love can activate the brain region that creates the feelings of euphoria.

从神经学角度来讲，我们所感受到的被称为爱的这种情感联系，是由催产素和抗利尿激素这两种荷尔蒙引起的，它们会激活我们大脑中的奖赏中枢。这些荷尔蒙只需几分之一秒就能到达大脑，而且一些研究表明，仅仅看着你爱的人就能激活产生愉悦感的大脑区域。

But those hormones don't just kick in when you meet a potential love interest. You have to get to know them first.

但这些荷尔蒙并不会在你遇到一个潜在的恋爱对象时就立刻起作用。你首先得去了解他们。

Psychologist Arthur Aron devised a set of questions that can accelerate this process and potentially help couples to fall in love quicker. Known as "the 36 questions that lead to love", these require two people to be vulnerable and share life experiences, which can enhance intimacy and potentially lead to love. They aren't quick questions, though, so it could take a while to get through them all.

心理学家亚瑟·阿伦（Arthur Aron）设计了一组问题，这些问题可以加速这个过程，并有可能帮助情侣更快地坠入爱河。这组问题被称为“通往爱情的36个问题”，要求两个人袒露心声，分享生活经历，这可以增进亲密感，并有可能发展成爱情。不过，这些问题不是一下子就能回答完的，所以可能需要一段时间才能把所有问题都问完。

With the rise of dating apps, particularly during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, people have been finding love without even being in the same place.

随着约会应用程序的兴起，尤其是在2020年新冠疫情封锁期间，人们甚至不用在同一个地方就能找到爱情。

A 2021 survey from dating app Bumble found that 67 per cent of people now believe it is possible to fall in love with someone you haven't even met in person. So maybe the length of time it takes to fall in love is simply about how quickly you can respond to text messages.

约会应用程序Bumble在2021年进行的一项调查发现，现在有67%的人认为有可能爱上一个自己从未见过面的人。所以，也许坠入爱河所需的时间长短，仅仅取决于你回复短信的速度有多快。

翻译：豆包

整理：2025年3月14日于东原璞阅