Interpersonal Attraction Essay

1863 Words8 Pages
Interpersonal attraction is the attraction between people which leads to friendships and romantic relationships. Interpersonal attraction, the process, is distinct from perceptions of physical attractiveness which involves views of what is and is not considered beautiful or attractive. The study of interpersonal attraction is a major area of research in social psychology. Interpersonal attraction is related to how much we like, dislike, or hatesomeone. It can be viewed as a force acting between two people that tends to draw them together and resist their separation. When measuring interpersonal attraction, one must refer to the qualities of the attracted as well as the qualities of the attractor to achieve predictive accuracy. It is suggested that to determine attraction, personality and situation must be taken into account. Repulsion is also a factor in the process of interpersonal attraction, one's conception of "attraction" to another can vary from extreme attraction to extreme repulsion Many factors leading to interpersonal attraction have been studied, all of which involve social reinforcement[5]. The most frequently studied are:physical attractiveness, propinquity, familiarity, similarity, complementarity, reciprocal liking, and reinforcement. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS * A researcher can’t randomly assign you to the similar or dissimilar “lover” condition and make you have a relationship! * Feelings and intimacy associated with close relationships can be difficult to measure. Psychologists face a daunting task when trying to measure such complex feelings as love and passion The mere exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things or people that are more familiar to them than others. Repeated exposure increases familiarity. This effect is therefore also known as the familiarity effect. The
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