Why you get butterflies in your stomach when you like is one of the reasons why the symbolism will surprise you.

When you are instantly attracted to someone, you get a flip-flopping tummy-turning feeling.The feeling of butterflies in the stomach is exciting regardless of how you catch eyes or how he makes you laugh.

The person making you feel this way is definitely not your partner.That feeling can be frightening.

In a survey of over 1,300 people, we found that 62 percent of people in relationships get butterflies in their stomach or feel excited at the idea of flirting with someone else at least once a year.There's a good chance your partner is if you're not part of the 62 percent.

It is not surprising at all based on the amazing data from biology and neuroscience.

Your body's fight-or-flight response is what you feel when someone makes your heart skip a beat.

The human body has evolved over time to either fight or run in the face of a threat.Your breathing quickens, your heart rate increases, and you start to feel a little sweaty.

According to Greatist, the smooth stomach muscles are extra-sensitive during the fight-or-flight response, which leads to the famous "butterfly in the stomach" feeling.

Being attracted to someone isn't life-threatening, so the whole fight-or-flight response might seem like your body is doing too much.When you're already with someone else, catching yourself falling for someone isn't stress-free.

We promise that you are not alone in the experience of getting excited by someone other than your partner.

If you are one of the 62 percent of people who get excited at the idea of flirting with someone other than your partner, don't feel guilty about it.Research shows that women are genetically programmed to have affairs.

According to researchers at the University of Texas, affairs were a type of insurance for our ancestors.A regular mate can cheat, die, or decline in mate value."Ancestral women without a backup mate would have suffered a lapse in protection and resources," said Dr. David Buss, senior author of the research.

Our ancestors would keep people on the back burner if anything happened to their spouse.They would make themselves available to others just in case, rather than being in love with their mate.The person making you feel that way would potentially make a good backup mate because the butterflies in the stomach are a leftover evolutionary process.

It's not necessarily a sign that your relationship is in jeopardy, but it is a biological impulse passed down from our ancestors.

The act of flirting with someone new is exciting because it makes you feel good about yourself.We like things that make us feel good, and getting positive attention from someone we like feels great.

As you become more comfortable with your partner and move into the deep attachment phase, you lose that eyeball feeling.You probably don't feel the dopamine and serotonin spikes that you did in the early stages of your relationship.Your relationship starts to feel boring, lonely, or even hurt when you feel comfort giving way to complacency.

You can still love and care for each other, but you may not feel valued like you used to.This is doubly damaging because not only does complacency threaten the viability of your relationship, it often erodes your well-being and self-esteem.One of the leading causes of divorce is not feeling valued in your relationship.

Esther Perel said that this creates a kind of desire vacuum that makes people susceptible to affairs.She told Slate that it was not about sex, but about desire.It's about attention, about connecting with parts of yourself you didn't know existed.

The butterflies sensation is an internal process that many people don't realize.Perel said that they don't go elsewhere because they are looking for another person.Something as simple as flirting with someone new gets you out of that mundane routine and serves as a reminder of who you really are.

Micki Spollen is a writer and editor.She has a website where you can keep up with her travels.