Attraction: The Most Intimate Relationships

I found it interesting that the authors found that actual similarity did not predict romantic attraction, that in fact similarity was significantly or marginally related to romantic liking for 6 of the 26 results were in the expected direction. They also found that significant effect of socio-sexuality similarity on liking, and socio-sexuality shares some conceptual overlap with extraversion.

McNulty, J. K., Neff, L. A., & Karney, B. R. (2008). Beyond initial attraction: Physical

Critique: I found this essay to be enlightening in several ways. Not only was the information presented in an organized way, but it was also very interesting. I agree with the author’s statements about the trials and tribulations of relationships, and I find myself agreeing most with his biological theory of attraction. I especially liked the psychological direction of the essay, as it remained fairly objective and scientific while still presenting new and different ideas as witnessed by his inclusion of historical facts with the addition of his own unique analysis and commentary

The researchers in these two studies wanted to test the hypothesis that sexual attraction increases during states of high emotion, such as hate or aggression. The researcher used questionnaires containing pictures from the Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT) in the two studies. The questionnaires were given to forty different males by the same attractive female confederate. The female confederate distributed these questionnaires in two different settings; one was a highly emotional setting and the other was a minimal emotional setting. The two experiments that I will be discussing were designed to test the idea that an attractive female is seen as more attractive by males who encounter her while they experience a strong emotion, fear, than by

The understanding of attraction between opposite sexes and the impact they have on each other has qualities of both mystery and accessibility. These complex issues are elusive and cannot be fully comprehended. Only small pieces of knowledge about them have been captured in literature, in scientific and analytical studies, and in individual's search and speculations.

When looking at intimate relationships from the varying psychological perspectives one must wonder how it is that any one perspective could be more or less important or contributive than another. Each perspective actually seems to come into play and have a role throughout an intimate relationship. When we first meet someone we decide if we are attracted to that person, we gauge how we physically respond to them this tends to be biologically driven, “The lust system is proposed to motivate individuals to locate sexual opportunities and is mainly associated with estrogens and androgens in the brain. The attraction system directs an individual’s attention toward specific mates, makes him or her crave emotional union with this person, and

Interpersonal communication has a significant effect on individuals when looking to spark future romance. It demonstrates how people interact with one another, and while communication is key, it sometimes even sparks and attraction or interest which may lead to a potential romance. Based on our in class textbook, some of the factors why we form relationships are; appearance, similarity, complementarity, rewards, competency, proximity, and disclosure. (Ronald B. Adler) Initiating relationships are not always easy, and it’s not always love at first sight, but appearance does play a role in starting a relationship or not.

In this paper, I will be writing a personal journal entry in response to the textbook, “Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (9th ed.)” written by Spencer Rathus, Jeffery Nevid, and Lois Fichner-Rathus (2014). They discuss attraction and an attraction-similarity hypothesis. Rathus et al. define the meaning as, “…people tend to develop romantic relationships with people who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other traits” (p. 193). With so many different physical features, shapes, heights, and weight of all people, the hypothesis makes sense and in general I have witnessed most couples to also fit this hypothesis. However, the text further discusses that physical attractiveness is more important to the male when selecting a female partner. I have also witnessed this trend with couples and the female being more physically attractive in the relationship. Going deeper attraction can also be based on similar interests, personalities, intelligence, education,

effects of electric shock on learning and pain to read. After a while, the experimenter

Throughout life almost everyone wants to be or is in a romantic relationship. There is always the hope that one day you will find that person that you want to be with and possibly spend the rest of your life with. The thought of finding that one person who complements you in numerous ways is thrilling for most people. However, people do not realize all of the work a relationship takes nor how many different factors can play a part in a relationship; how you were raised and what gender you are can dictate how attached you can be during any form of relationship.

This section discusses whether relationships arise from common experiences or if they are the result of natural characters of people. Relationships are initially based

Interpersonal attraction, as defined by social psychologists, refers to attitudinal positivity (Huston and Levinger, 1978). Although, this attitudinal positivity may not refer a romantic attraction, it still refers to an attraction that is compelling enough to form a relationship with another individual. Interpersonal relationships are formed when an individual feels the ‘need to affiliate’. This ‘need to affiliate’ is critically important to human beings. Individuals who achieve high levels of affiliation often form successful interpersonal relationships. Those who develop strong relationships with other members of society acquire a strong sense of belonging which contributes to a higher level of self esteem. There are many factors that influence the formation of successful

Many factors impact the type of people we are attracted to. They include physical attractiveness, proximity, reciprocity, and similarity. Research shows that the initial phases of romantic attraction are largely determined by physical appeal (Curran & Ruppel, 2012). People’s perception of their own physical appeal also plays a

When you like or love someone, you are encountering interpersonal attraction- liking towards someone. Interpersonal attraction usually occurs in close relationships between friends, family members, and other people in common. (Sprecher, Wenzel, & Harvey, 2008)

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 hate someone. It can be viewed as 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