Interpersonal Attractions.ppt.pdf. .

Interpersonal Attraction
In general, we tend to be attracted to people who display a sense of humor. In the cost-benefit analyses underlying interpersonal attraction (K. S. Cook and Rice, 2003), a sense of humor in another person increases the perceived benefits of a relationship (the pleasant feelings associated with laughter) and decreases the perceived costs (there is less likelihood that the person will become easily offended or burden us with negative emotional reactions). An experiment by Barbara Fraley and Arthur Aron (2004) examined the degree to which a shared humorous experience during a first encounter between during a first encounter between strangers leads to greater feelings of closeness. In this study, same-sex stranger pairs participated together in a series of tasks that were designed either to generate a great deal of humor or to be enjoyable but not humorous. After completing these tasks, they were each asked to rate their perceptions of their partner and their feelings on a number of scales, including how close they felt to the other person.

1. Interpersonal Attraction:
Meeting, Liking, Becoming
Acquainted

2. INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION
Internal Determinants of Attraction:
The Need to Affiliate and the Basic
Role of Affect
External Determinants of Attraction:
Proximity and Observable
Characteristics
Interactive Determinants of
Attraction: Similarity and Mutual Liking

3. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶The Importance of Affiliation for Human Existence
▶The tendency to affiliate appears to be based on
neurobiological factors.
▶Human infants seem to be born with the motivation to seek contact
with those in their social environment.
▶Newborns prefer to look at faces more than other stimuli.
▶People respond automatically to facial cues.

4. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Individual differences in the need to affiliate
▶Need for Affiliation—basic motive to seek and maintain interpersonal
relationships
▶Need appears to be a relatively stable trait
▶When affiliation needs are not met, sadness and anger may result and
cognitive functioning may be affected.
▶Situational influences on the need to affiliate
▶Threatening situations (e.g., natural disasters) may increase the need
to affiliate.
▶People like to affiliate with those who are experiencing the same negative
event.
▶Provides a means for social comparison

5. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Affect as a Basic Response System
▶Affect—a person’s emotional state: positive and negative feelings
and moods
▶Two important characteristics are intensity (strength) and direction
(positive and negative).
▶Emotional states influence interpersonal attraction.
▶Evolutionary factors offer an explanation regarding why affect is a
basic component of human behavior.
▶Simple discriminations between stimuli can be made
▶Increases likelihood of survival and reproduction

6. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Affect consists of at least two dimensions that stimulate different
parts of the brain.
▶This explains why people can respond to situations with ambivalence.
▶Can be an adaptive strategy since exploration may need to involve caution
▶Additional subtypes of affect appear to exist
▶For example, positive affect includes joy, interest, and activation.

7. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Affect and Attraction
▶The direct effect of emotions on attraction
▶Positive affect leads to liking others.
▶Negative affect leads to disliking others.
▶The associated effect of emotions on attraction
▶Occurs when another person is present when one’s emotional state is
aroused by something or someone unrelated to that person
▶For example, subliminal presentation of pleasant pictures can increase
expressed liking of a person one meets shortly after viewing the pictures.

8. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION

9. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Additional Implications of the Affect-Attraction Relationship
▶Laughter and liking
▶Laughter helps strengthen bonds between people.
▶Early interactions with others involve forms of play that evoke laughter.
▶Thought to the the origin of social interaction
▶Sharing a humorous experience increases the likelihood of a pleasant
interaction between individuals.

10. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION

11. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Manipulating affect to influence behavior
▶Media advertising attempts to manipulate affect to influence
consumers’ and voters’ behaviors.
▶These attempts are often subtle and effective.
▶Effect of affect on evaluation is greatest
▶When the audience is uninformed
▶When they are unaware that their emotional state is being
manipulated
▶When they are engaged in making decisions

12. INTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
What are your thoughts?
Why do people undergoing a negative event prefer ‘miserable’
company (i.e., people who also are experiencing misery) and not
simply company?
Why are humor and laughter positively related to attraction?
What lessons can be learned from this research when considering
where to take someone on a date?
What are examples of how the media influence affect and
subsequent behaviors?

13. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶The Power of Proximity: Unplanned Contacts
▶Proximity—in attraction research, the physical closeness
between two individuals with respect to where they live, where
they sit in a classroom, where they work, and so on
▶Smaller physical distances are related to an increased likelihood that
two people will come into repeated contact and exposure to each
other, feel positive affect, and develop mutual attraction.

14. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Why does proximity matter? Repeated exposure is the key
▶Repeated exposure (sometimes called the mere exposure
effect)—Zajonc’s (1968) finding that frequent contact with any mildly
negative, neutral, or positive stimulus results in an increasingly
positive evaluation of that stimulus
▶Repeated exposure without harmful effects increases familiarity, reduces
uncertainty, and increases liking

15. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION

16. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Extensions of the repeated exposure effect
▶The repeated exposure effect is stronger when people are not aware
that the exposure has occurred.
▶Positive affect elicited by repeated exposure to subliminal stimuli
generalizes to other, similar stimuli
▶People high in the need for structure may be more responsive to
repeated exposure effects.
▶The repeated exposure effect does not happen when people’s initial
reaction to a stimulus is very negative.
▶In this case, familiarity can result in more dislike.

17. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Applying knowledge about the effects of proximity
▶It is possible to learn from research findings on proximity and apply
them to one’s surroundings and the choices made within them.
▶Architects have used this research to design offices and
neighborhoods to promote social interaction.

18. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Observable Characteristics: Instant Evaluations
▶First impressions can arouse strong affect and may overcome the
effects of proximity.
▶Indicates the influences of past experiences, stereotypes, and attributions
that do not apply to a particular person, but yet are used in the
evaluation of him or her
▶Physical attractiveness: Judging books by their covers
▶Physical attractiveness—combination of characteristics that are evaluated
as beautiful or handsome at the positive extreme and as unattractive at
the negative extreme
▶Found to be an important factor in interpersonal attraction

19. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Physical appearance determines many social outcomes.
▶People hold stereotypes based on people’s appearance.
▶Most believe that attractiveness in both men and women is associated with
being interesting, sociable, exciting, well-adjusted, and successful.
▶Most assume that “what is beautiful is good”
▶Positive stereotypes are universally related to attractiveness.
▶However, the content of the stereotypes may differ according to which
traits a culture values.
▶Most of the common appearance stereotypes are inaccurate.
▶However, attractiveness is associated with popularity, good interpersonal
skills, and high self-esteem, which probably result from how attractive
people are treated by others.

20. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Exceptions to the positive stereotypes regarding attractive people
▶Beautiful women may be perceived as vain and materialistic
▶Only attractive male (not female) political candidates are more likely to
be elected
▶People can be wrong about others’ perceptions of how they look.
▶Appearance Anxiety—apprehension or worry about whether one’s physical
appearance is adequate and about the possible negative reactions of other
people
▶Can lead to anger and dissatisfaction with oneself

21. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶What constitutes “attractiveness?”
▶Judgments of one’s own attractiveness may not be similar to others’
judgments, but two people usually agree when they are asked to rate a
third person.
▶Greatest agreement occurs when men are judging how attractive a women
is.
▶However, it is not easy to ascertain the precise factors that determine
attractiveness ratings.
▶Two different procedures are used to determine the facial features that
are associated with attractiveness.
▶Identifying attractive individuals and discovering what characteristics they
share
▶Creating a composite image of combined faces

22. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Perceptions of attractiveness also are affected by the situation.
▶Due to the contrast effect, what someone has been looking at (e.g., pictures
of attractive people) prior to rating the attractiveness of a stranger influences
the rating given.
▶Research in bars has found that people appear more attractive to potential
partners as closing time approaches.
▶Other aspects of appearance and behavior that influence
attraction
▶Neatness and color of one’s clothing, observable disabilities, actions
that suggest mental illness, perceived age, eyeglasses, and men’s
facial hair

23. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Men’s height is perceived to be related to qualities such as leadership
and masculinity.
▶People tend to elect the tallest (and most attractive) candidate who is
running for president.
▶A person’s physique is related to stereotypes that affect attraction
despite no relationship between it and personality.
▶Excess fat is the least favored physique
▶Obesity is stigmatized and it can be associated with someone who is
physically near a person who is obese.
▶This occurs despite the fact that stereotypes associated with weight do
not result in accurate predictions about an individual’s behavior.

24. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
▶Observable differences in behavior influence attraction.
▶A youthful walking style, a firm handshake, animated behavior, active
participation in discussions, and modesty are associated with positive
responses from others.
▶Men who act in a dominant, authoritative, and competitive manner in initial
encounters are liked better than those who appear submissive,
noncompetitive, and less masculine.
▶After subsequent interactions, men who are prosocial and sensitive are
preferred.
▶People who eat healthy food are judged as more likeable and morally
superior compared to those who eat “junk food.”
▶A person’s first name also plays a role in interpersonal attraction.

25. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ATTRACTION
What are your thoughts?
How do internet dating and chat rooms correspond with data
on the effects of physical proximity on attraction?
What are the origins of stereotypes regarding people who are
considered physically attractive?
What are the problems with electing political candidates based
on superficial qualities such as their height and attractiveness?

26. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶Similarity: Birds of a Feather Flock Together
▶Similarity predicts subsequent liking
▶Equally true for males, females, and different age, educational, and
cultural groups
▶Similarity-dissimilarity predicts attraction
▶Similarity-dissimilarity effect—consistent finding that people respond
positively to indications that another person is similar to themselves and
negatively to indications that another person is dissimilar from themselves
▶Also, similar people are judged as more intelligent, informed, moral, and better
adjusted than people who are dissimilar.

27. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶Proportion of Similarity—number of specific topics on which two
people express similar views divided by the total number of
topics discussed
▶An exception to the similarity effect is in regards to the ideal self.
▶Finding out that someone is closer to one’s ideal self could be threatening

28. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION

29. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶Explaining the effect of similarity-dissimilarity on attraction
▶Balance Theory—formulations of Heider (1958) and of Newcomb
(1961) that specify the relationships among (1) an individual’s liking for
another person, (2) his or her attitude about a given topic, and (3) the
other person’s attitude about the same topic
▶Balance (liking plus agreement) results in a positive emotional state
▶Imbalance (liking plus disagreement) results in a negative state and a
motivation to restore balance
▶Nonbalance (nonliking plus either agreement or disagreement) results in
indifference

30. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶A second level of explanation is provided by Festinger’s (1954) social
comparison theory.
▶Similar others provide consensual validation of one’s beliefs.
▶A third approach is an evolutionary perspective that focuses on the
adaptive value of associating with similar others.
▶Much hatred of others is based on aspects which are dissimilar to oneself
▶It is proposed that people may be programmed to fear and hate
people who are different from themselves.
▶If these reactions were adaptive in the distant past, today they form
the basis for prejudice, hate crimes, terrorism, and genocide.

31. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶Attraction: Progressing from Bits and Pieces to an Overall
Picture
▶Affect-Centered Model of Attraction—conceptual framework in
which attraction is assumed to be based on positive and negative
emotions, which can be aroused directly by another or simply
associated with another and can be enhanced or mitigated by
cognitive processes
▶Initial dislike of a stranger may be based on affect, but justification of
that affect and behaviors based on it are a result of cognitive factors.

32. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION

33. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
▶Mutual Evaluations: Reciprocal Liking or Disliking
▶Mutual liking is an intermediate step between initial attraction and
establishing a relationship.
▶People enjoy being evaluated positively by others even when the
evaluation is inaccurate or insincere.
▶First indicators of attraction can be nonverbal: sitting next to someone,
maintaining eye contact.
▶People dislike those who dislike and negatively evaluate them.

34. INTERACTIVE DETERMINANTS OF
ATTRACTION
What are your thoughts?
Why do people continue to believe that opposites attract despite
little or no evidence of this in their daily lives?
Why are similarity and mutual liking important precursors to
attraction?
Why do they matter as much as they do to people?
What needs do they serve?