Interpersonal Attraction Research Articles

Basic Principles in Social Psychology: A Work in Progress

We are grateful to the editor of Psychological Inquiry, Larry Pervin, for deciding that our edited volume, Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles, was sufficiently important in scope to merit a multiple essay review. This issue of the journal is the final one for which Larry Pervin will serve as the editor. Under his leadership, nurturance, and vision, this journal has become a major force for critical thinking and scholarship in psychology internationally. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his unique contribution to our discipline. We are also grateful to the reviewers of Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles who contributed to this special commentary on the volume. The many chapters in this volume are unusually extensive, thorough, and thoughtful, and we recognize that reviewing them is no simple task. Thus, we sincerely appreciate the dedication of these reviewers to our field that is reflected by their willingness to provide commentary. Before responding to specific issues raised in the commentaries, we felt that it might be informative to the reader if we provided some background on why we believed that this particular kind of social psychology volume might be useful to the field. The initial impetus for the volume began when Seymour Weingarten asked us (in the summer of 1991) whether the information needs of social psychologists and others interested in social psychology were being met by the existing volumes in social psychology. With such series in mind as the classic Handbook of Social Psychology and Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, and the more recent European Review of Social Psychology, Handbook of Social Cognition, and Handbook of Motivation and Cognition, and so on, our first response was that there were no information gaps. But on further reflection, we realized that although there were outstanding volumes dedicated to empirical discoveries in social psychology and to conceptual breakthroughs of individual theorists, there was no volume whose specific objective was to identify general principles that cross-cut the separate findings and theories. Extending our purview beyond such handbooks and edited series on social psychology, we began to realize that the predominant approach to providing overviews of the field was reflected in the typical textbook on social psychology. This approach organizes the field in terms of important social issues and social psychological phenomena, such as altruism, aggression, prejudice and stereotypes, interpersonal attraction, conformity, self-esteem, and so on. This kind of organization highlights the social significance of our field to understanding and addressing critical social problems. It also provides empirical reviews of basic findings on significant phenomena. These are the great benefits of such an organization. Any decision about organization will have costs as well as benefits, however. It occurred to us that one significant cost of this organization was that some important concepts had no chapter of their own but appeared briefly in several chapters scattered across a volume. The concept of arousal, for example, might appear in chapters on attitudes and self-persuasion, aggression, altruism, social influence, attribution, interpersonal attraction, and so on. The concept of expectancy might appear in chapters on attitudes and decision making, group processes, stereotypes, social roles, attributions, and so on. As a final example, the concept of social norm might appear in chapters on conformity, communication, interpersonal relations, attitudes and decision making, and so on.

Self-narcissism and interpersonal attraction to narcissistic others.

In the first of a two-part study, 172 participants completed a questionnaire on personality and career preferences. Items from the Narcissism Scale of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory were embedded in this questionnaire as well as a series of bogus items. In the second session conducted three weeks later, participants watched a videotaped dramatization of either a male or female enacting a narcissistic role and completed a modified version of the First Impressions Questionnaire and an item assessing mood. The narcissism scores of participants obtained during Part 1 were paired with their respective ratings of the target person on the modified-First Impressions Questionnaire and mood. Contrary to predictions participants' scores on narcissism did not affect their first impressions of persons enacting a narcissistic role. Participants who viewed the male role player rated him as less attractive than those who watched the female, while participants who watched the female target reported greater negative mood scores than those who watched the male target.

Does interpersonal attraction to thin media personalities promote eating disorders?

A study was conducted to examine the link between college women's interpersonal attraction to female media personalities of various body sizes, and several indices of disordered eating symptomatology. Interpersonal attraction to thin television characters and magazine models, operationalized as a combination of liking, feeling similar to, and wanting to be like these individuals, was expected to be positively related to disordered eating symptomatology. The theoretical proposition that attraction to social agents facilitates modeling of these agents’ behavior was proposed to account for the observed relationships. Attraction to thin media personalities predicted 6 of 7 eating disorder indices, even when exposure to thinness‐depicting and ‐promoting (TDP) media was controlled. The argument is advanced that interpersonal attraction thin media personalities is an important element in the relationship between consumption of TDP media and disordered eating, and exerts an influence on disordered eating beyond the influence of mere media exposure.

Similarity in cognitive complexity and attraction to friends and lovers: Experimental and correlational studies

Two studies are reported examining whether similarities in cognitive complexity foster different forms of interpersonal attraction. Study 1 provided an experimental test of the hypothesis that perceivers would be more attracted to targets with similar levels of complexity than to targets with dissimilar levels of complexity. Participants read interpersonal impressions reflecting low and high levels of cognitive complexity and completed 3 assessments of attraction (social, task, and intellectual) to the source of the impressions. As predicted, there were significant interactions between perceiver complexity and target complexity such that high-complexity perceivers were more attracted to high-complexity targets than were low-complexity perceivers, whereas low-complexity perceivers were more attracted to low-complexity targets than were high-complexity perceivers. Unexpectedly, however, low-complexity perceivers were more attracted to a high-complexity target than a low-complexity target. Study 2 examined the effects of similarities in cognitive complexity on attraction among 126 pairs of dating partners. Partners having similar levels of cognitive complexity expressed significantly greater intellectual attraction to one another than partners having dissimilar levels of cognitive complexity.

Voice and interpersonal attraction

The present study examined the effects of voice and physical appearance on inter‐personal attraction. Furthermore, the attributes of voice that enhance interpersonal attraction were investigated. In the first study the subjects were 25 female students from one university and the target persons were four male students from another university. The subjects rated attractiveness of voice and physical appearance, and the overall interpersonal attraction of the target persons. The attractiveness of voice and physical appearance had independent effects on interpersonal attraction. In the second study the subjects were 62 students (20 males, 42 females) from one university and the target persons were 16 students from another university (eight of each sex). The results of the first study were replicated. Bright, generous voices, low vocal pitch and a small range of vocal pitch increased interpersonal attraction.

Subjective Applicant Qualifications and Interpersonal Attraction as Mediators within a Process Model of Interview Selection Decisions

Past research comparing the relative influence of objective and subjective applicant qualifications within the interview context suggests a dominant influence of subjectively assessed applicant qualifications. However, methodological concerns cast doubt upon this conclusion. The present investigation overcomes previous methodological limitations by reanalyzing data from Kinicki and Lockwood (1985) using covariance structural modeling. Twenty-four professional recruiters interviewed 91 college seniors. Results indicate interviewers differentiate between applicant objective and subjective qualifications, but perceptions of applicant subjective qualifications and interviewing skills are indistinguishable. The interviewer's subjective impression of the applicant completely mediates the effect of applicants’ relevant experience levels, but not academic achievement. This finding suggests the possibility that academic achievement be entered into the final hiring decision independently of interviewer judgments. The current results indicate a positive relationship between interpersonal attraction and interview outcomes, perhaps suggesting interviewers are measuring applicant fit in addition to job skills.

The Relative Effect of Attitude Similarity and Attitude Dissimilarity on Interpersonal Attraction: Investigating the Moderating Roles of Prejudice and Group Membership

Heterosexual male undergraduates rated the interpersonal attractiveness and perceived attitude similarity of heterosexual and homosexual targets who were either attitudinally similar, ambiguous (i.e., no-attitude-information controls), or dissimilar to the participant. The relative effect of attitude similarity and dissimilarity information on attraction judgments was moderated by the perceiver's prejudice level but not by the target's group membership: Dissimilarity decreased low-prejudice (LP) individuals' attraction toward heterosexual and homosexual targets. Conversely, similarity increased high-prejudice (HP) participants' attraction toward both targets. Dissimilarity also decreased HPs' attraction toward heterosexual targets. Attraction effects for LPs were independent of perceived attitude similarity in the no-attitude control conditions and were more consistent with the person-positivity bias. For HPs, judgments of homosexual targets were partially mediated by perceived attitude dissimilarity. Findings are discussed in the context of the similarity-attraction principle, the repulsion hypothesis, and theories of intergroup discrimination.

On the role of humor appreciation in interpersonal attraction: It’s no joking matter

On the role of humor appreciation in interpersonal attraction: It’s no joking matter

Consumer Responses to Rumors: Good News, Bad News

Three studies—a field survey and two experiments—examine social and situational factors influencing the evaluation and communication of information labeled as rumor. The survey focused on rumor transmission and beliefs about marketplace rumors held by the public. Consumers reported that they were exposed to and spread more negative than positive rumors. Additionally, rumor, when identified as such, was evaluated less favorably than other word‐of‐mouth communications. These findings were then examined in greater depth in two experiments that compared the interpersonal consequences of transmission of negative and positive rumors. The first experimental study revealed that labeling information as a rumor decreased its credibility and transmission to others and that positively valenced rumors were more likely to be transmitted and generated greater liking for the transmitter. Study 3 revealed that the personal relevance of the information interacted with valence to influence rumor transmission, affective reactions, and interpersonal attraction. There was a greater propensity to spread positive rumors that reflected well on oneself compared to negative rumors that reflected badly. In contrast, negative rumor about one's rival was more likely to be transmitted than positively valenced rumor. Rumor valence did not influence transmission when the information concerned a remote other.

Culture's Influence on Business Negotiations in Four Countries

The usefulness of a theoretical model of the determinants of business negotiation outcomes is tested in a simulation with business people from four countries (the United States, Japan, Brazil and Spain). The article is an extension of Graham, Mintu, and Rodgers (1994), and also directly tests Hofstede's and Hall's theories of culture. A problem-solving approach results in higher negotiation outcomes for Americans when their partners reciprocate. Role (buyer or seller) is the key determinant of profits for Japanese negotiations; that is, buyers do better than sellers. For the Spanish negotiators, a problem-solving approach actually yielded lower profits. For the Brazilians, interpersonal attractiveness lead to higher partner satisfaction.

Job applicant past performance, interpersonal attraction and evaluator attributions in the selection decision process

Examines the interactive effects of applicant past performance, evaluator attributions and interpersonal attraction on selection decisions. A total of 172 male and female students evaluated an application for an on‐campus position and were asked to make selection decisions. Results indicated that internal attributions for good past performance were associated with more favourable selection decisions while internal attributions for poor past performance were associated with less favourable selection decisions. Hypotheses involving interactive effects of applicant past performance and interpersonal attraction on evaluator attributions and selection decisions were not supported.

Interpersonal Attraction in Relation to the Loss—Gain Hypothesis

Abstract The loss-gain hypothesis was tested in relation to interpersonal attraction, using a sample of Indian university students and a 4 × 2 (Sequence of Evaluative Comments x Sex of Participant) factorial design. The loss-gain liking sequence was associated more closely than the gain-loss liking sequence was to interpersonal attraction.

Similarity in the communication skills of young adults: Foundations of attraction, friendship, and relationship satisfaction

The current paper reports a study assessing how similarities in levels of social‐cognitive and communication skills affected friendship choices by young adults. Participants (208 college students) completed a battery of tasks providing assessments of one social‐cognitive and five communication skills. Sociometric procedures were used to determine interpersonal attraction and friendship patterns. Results indicated that participants were attracted to peers having social skill levels similar to their own. In addition, pairs of friends had similar levels of communication skills related to the expression and management of emotional states. Moreover, pairs of friends having low levels of communication skills were just as satisfied with their relationships as were pairs of friends having high levels of skills. The results are viewed as consistent with a “rewards of interaction”; analysis of the effects of similarity on interpersonal attraction.

Cross-cultural social and organizational psychology.

This review considers recent theoretical and empirical developments in cross-cultural studies within social and organizational psychology. It begins with a description of the importance and the difficulties of universalizing psychological science. It then continues with an examination of theoretical work on both the internal-proximal and the external-distal constraints that mediate culture's influence on behavior. Influences on social cognition are documented by describing research on self-concept, self-esteem, emotions, attribution processes, person perception, interpersonal attraction, and justice. Group processes are addressed in the areas of leadership, decision-making, and negotiation, and research in organizational psychology is examined with respect to work motivation and work behavior. The review concludes that considerable improvement is evident in recent cross-cultural research. However, future research must include a broader range of cultures and attend more closely to the levels at which cultural effects should be analyzed, and cultural samples must be unpackaged in more psychologically useful ways.

Emotional and instrumental orientations in interpersonal attraction and their relationship to group norms in a group-work setting

This study investigated the relationship between group norms and interpersonal attraction in group work setting. It may be assumed that interpersonal attraction, like group functions, has two conflictive orientations: instrumentality and emotionality. Relationship of the two orientations in interpersonal attraction to group norms was examined in two experiments. Results of Experiment 1, with 66 female university students, suggested that specific contents of group norms influenced both instrumental and emotional attraction. Experiment 2, with 60 female university students, indicated that emotional attraction had normative influence on task selection and goal setting. Conflicting dynamics of the two orientations in group-work setting are discussed.

Asymmetry in interpersonal attraction and its relation to the effects of similarity and dissimilarity

Asymmetry in interpersonal attraction and its relation to the effects of similarity and dissimilarity

Attraction in organizations: A model of workplace romance

Antecedents and consequences of participating in a romantic relationship in the workplace are critically examined. These factors are derived from social-psychological theories of interpersonal attraction, romantic attraction, love, emotion, and social exchange, as well as from previous research addressing romance in the workplace. The antecedent factors explain the processes by which romantic relationships develop between two members of the same organization, and the consequent factors highlight both the beneficial and detrimental effects that such relationships have on the participants, coworkers, and the host organization. Based on these formation and impact factors, a conceptual model of workplace romance is developed along with a series of testable propositions in order to facilitate and direct future research on romantic organizational behavior.

Impact of ingratiation on judgments and evaluations: A meta-analytic investigation.

A computer search was conducted to examine empirical research on the relationship between various ingratiation tactics and the judgments and evaluations of targets and observers. The data revealed a small positive effect for ingratiation on performance evaluations and a significantly stronger positive effect for ingratiation on judgments of interpersonal attraction (i.e., liking). However, these effects were qualified by a number of categorical and continuous moderator variables, including the specific ingratiation tactic used, the perceived transparency of the ingratiation, the direction of the influence attempt {upward, downward, or lateral), whether perceivers were targets of the influence attempt or simply observed the ingratiator, the gender of the perceiver, and the setting in which the data were collected. The implications of these findings for future research on the impact of various forms of ingratiation are discussed.

Gender Characteristics and Relationship Adjustment: Another Look at Similarity‐Complementarity Hypotheses

ABSTRACT The present study examined how the similarity and complementarity of gender‐related attitudes, behaviors, interests, and personality traits related to partner selection and relationship adjustment in the context of serious, romantic relationships. Results revealed the important role of gender‐related attitudes in relationships, indicating that study participants tended to be paired with partners who held similar attitudes, and that couples who were similar in attitudes had higher dyadic adjustment. Furthermore, the nature of the couples' attitudes affected (a) the extent to which couples were paired on the basis of complementary interests and behaviors, and (b) the relation between partner's gender‐related behaviors and dyadic adjustment. Results support previous research citing the importance of attitude similarity in interpersonal attraction, and demonstrate that these findings can be generalized to ongoing, close relationships.

Attitudes and Attraction: A Developmental Study of the Similarity-Attraction and Dissimilarity-Repulsion Hypotheses

Contrasting predictions ofByrne's similarity-attraction hypothesis and Rosenbaum's dissimilarity-repulsion hypothesis were tested with 7-, 11-, 15-, and 21-year-olds in Singapore. The study included a control condition of no-attitude information and two experimental conditions of similar and dissimilar attitudes. Measures of attraction, assumed similarity of attitudes, and accuracy in perceiving the manipulations were taken. The repulsion hypothesis was supported with the two younger groups; the attraction hypothesis was supported with the two older groups. The repulsion effect emerged because the two younger groups assumed a high level of attitudinal similarity in the control condition of no-attitude information and because they inaccurately perceived the manipulated similarity of attitudes in the experimental conditions. These results reaffirm the similarity-attraction hypothesis and further demonstrate the role of age-related cognitive processes in interpersonal attraction.