“Love Bonds,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, explores what influences who we find attractive. The podcast series’ third season -- "What Do We Know about Love?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about the relationship between humans and love.
Love is a bond that often involves physical attraction. “How do the groups with which we’re bonded influence that physical attractiveness? In my research, I’ve found that the degree to which people find others physically attractive seems to be related to how strongly those people contribute to their shared groups,” says Kevin Kniffin, assistant professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management , in his podcast episode.
Kniffin’s interest areas include management organizational behavior and sports analytics. His research focuses on athletic and scientific teams and the relevance of leadership across a variety of organizational contexts. He is Assurance of Learning Director for the Dyson School within the SC Johnson College of Business and director of the Laboratory for Experimental Economics and Decision Research.
The “What Makes Us Human?” podcast is produced by the College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Cornell Broadcast Studios and features audio essays written and recorded by Cornell faculty. New episodes are released each Tuesday through the fall semester, airing on WHCU and WVBR. The episodes are also available for download in iTunes and SoundCloud and for streaming on the A&S humanities page, where text versions of the essays are also posted.
