The Laws of Attraction

Dr. Berman explains difference between chemistry and intimacy
One common complaint Dr. Berman hears among women with relationship problems is that they love their partner, but they're not in love with him. "There is a difference between love and chemistry," Dr. Berman says. "Take a really good whiff of him without cologne when he's relatively clean. If that smell turns you on, that's a really good cue of chemistry."

In one recent study, Dr. Berman says researchers had women smell men's T-shirts. The women were most attracted to the shirts of men with a different major histocompatability complex (MHC) from them. MHC is a collection of genes that are related to immune systems. "We unconsciously want to mate with someone who has a different immune system than ours because that helps with the survival of our offspring," Dr. Berman says.