According to recent research done by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the expression that "love is blind" may actually have merit. Martie Haselton, associate professor of psychology and communication studies at UCLA and co-author of the study, puts it best by saying "It's almost like love puts blinders on people."

To be more exact, the study's lead author Gian Gonzaga explained that "feeling love" for your cherished partner could make those around you "less attractive." After research was conducted, Gonzaga was led to believe that love works in "very specific ways by enabling you to push thoughts of that tempting other out of your mind."

From the UCLA, 120 heterosexual undergraduates were asked to view attractive photos of members of the opposite sex from the dating website eHarmony then choose one who they feel most attracted to.

The students were then divided into three groups and asked to come up with essays. They could be about the time they felt the most love for their current romantic partner or about moments they felt the most sexual desire for their current romantic partner. They were allowed to jot down anything on the topic of love, really.

During the process, students were reliving an intense moment of love or an intense moment of sexual desire for their partner, said Gonzaga. While in such phase, they were requested to note each time the "attractive other" comes to mind.

Results were significantly distinct. To quote the UCLA News:

Undergraduates who reflected on the love they felt for their romantic partner were six times less likely than the control group, and more than four times less likely than the group that wrote about their sexual desire for their partner, to think of the hottie.

On average, undergraduates in the love group thought of the tempting other once every two pages, compared with more than twice a page for the desire group and almost four times a page for the control group.