By Psyche Loui

Psyche Loui is a post-doc in a neurology lab at the Harvard Med School. She recently hails from Berkeley with a training in psychology, and is currently in denial about cold northeastern winters. Psyche specializes in research on brains and music, but in her spare time she conducts top-secret studies on Why Women Like Nail Polish and The Effects of Football Watching on Male Bonding. The Neural Theory of Fear of Commitment is the result of decades of careful research and analysis, involving tons of very dedicated research assistants who agree to having their brain activity being recorded while their signficant others yell at them.

NEURAL THEORY OF FEAR OF COMMITMENT – AN ABSTRACT

Fear of Commitment (FoC) is a normal relationship-induced phenomenon that has plagued scientists for years. FoC is characterized by intense avoidance of, and discomfort caused by, all activities which imply commitment within a relationship, such as the co-carrying of shopping bags (usually coupled with the co-pushing of shopping carts) at grocery stores, the unsolicited giving of flowers and chocolates, the lending and borrowing of car keys, the leaving of toothbrushes in the other party’s living quarters, and most significantly, the request to move in with the other party and/or to relocate with the other party. These commitment-implying activities, broadly categorized…