Unbeknownst to the subjects, the real study was not the answers the men gave on the survey, but what happened afterward. Dutton and Aron set out to examine which of the men gave the pretty psychologist a call and, more important, why. In other words, they were interested in studying not just what happened on the bridge, but how that affected what happened later. They wanted to examine the rudiments of sexual desire, not merely the in-the-moment cause-and-reaction of talking to a pretty girl, but how that first interaction evolved into a longer-term desire for extended contact. Would the excitement and exhilaration of being on the shaky bridge, versus the more mundane experience of being on the solid bridge, promote romantic attraction?

In technical terms, Aron and Dutton were testing a concept called “misattribution,” also known as excitation transfer theory: The idea being that lingering excitement from one situation--say walking across a shaky bridge versus a stable one--could intensify a subsequent emotional state (in this instance, recollection of the encounter with the beautiful “psychologist”). Or, to put it simply: Does adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder?

The answer? Indeed, it does.

Not only did Aron and Dutton find that the men on the shaky bridge were more likely than their stable-bridge counterparts to call the woman later for results of the survey, but they were also far more likely to ask her for a date!

We’ll come back to this experiment a little later when we talk about the roles excitement and novelty play in stimulating our brain’s natural “sex-wiring,” and I’ll outline my “shaky-bridge” approach to great sex. (Don’t worry: It doesn’t involve getting it on while bungee jumping--although that probably wouldn’t hurt, accidents notwithstanding.)

Based on my experience as a couples’ counselor, it’s my wholehearted conviction that beneath the layers of decorative linens that cover our conjugal beds, there lies a shaky bridge, ready and waiting for high-stakes action. Yet most of us spend our sex-lives on the stable, sturdy one--often without realizing it. As your friendly neighborhood sex therapist, I’m here to help you take a monumental leap across the crashing tides to reach that soaring pendulous viaduct of desire.