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Another aspect of emotional attraction is reciprocity, which by definition has to do with a

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Another aspect of emotional attraction is reciprocity, which by definition has to do with a mutuality of some sort. In respect to attraction, it is the mutual interest. Human beings tend to like those who like them and dislike those who dislike them. The perfect illustration of this effect is the middle school drama scene. Most of us have probably heard or even said a line something to the effect of, “I don’t like her/him because they talked badly of me.” Inversely, when another individual expresses an interest in you, you probably feel a sense of accomplishment or flattery that causes you to show an interest in them as well (Sternberg, 2013). As much as we would like to think we left this attitude in middle school, it follows us …show more content…

The types of things that those who are emotionally attracted to one another have in common depends on what those specific people value most. While having things in common with another is beneficial to emotional attraction, there must also be a balance of some sort. Sternberg states, “Couples are indeed happiest when they complement each other on the dimension of dominance/submission but are about the same on the dimension of warmth” (2013). It is important that two individuals have many values and interests in common, but equally important for their strengths and weaknesses to balance. A common example of this is one partner being spontaneous, while the other is rational and level-headed. Couples are best happy together when a working balance for them has been reached. Arguably the biggest factor in emotional attraction is personality. But even personality ties back into similarity versus complementarity. There could never be a dictionary definition of what makes a “good personality” because it is subjective to the individual who is evaluating the other’s personality. Couples work best when their personalities are enough alike that they share many of the same perspectives and opinions, but also different enough that they can provide balance for each other. Social constructionism not only plays a role in physical attraction, but is key in emotional

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