What Does A Social Psychology Research Tell Us About Factors That Enhance Or Deter Attraction?

Attraction has led the author to indulge in relationships that had no meaning or depth other than being attracted to the individual on a sexual level. These relationships were short lived and usually dissipated shortly after they had begun. In fact, attraction has led the author to acquire a curable sexually transmitted disease because there was no time placed towards critically analyzing the situation.

The attraction theory of similarity is described in the book as simply that “people tend to like other people who are similar to themselves” (Social Psychology, 98). There are five main reasons that similarity

Blau states that “social attraction is the force that induces human beings to establish social associations on their own initiative and to expand the scope of their associations once they have been

What are the social factors that influence interpersonal attraction? Discuss in relation to relevant psychological theories and studies

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.

And did I mention about attraction and interest? Trust will show more interest, people will admire you and you will get noticed at the same time, which leads you to become more attractive to others.

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

To explains one’s attitudes towards interracial dating, many studies consider race to be the one of the primary factors that explains how people of different races tend to act differently. A way a person acts is not primarily because of their race, but instead of their personal experiences. This illustrates that attitude is greatly influenced by an individual’s personal experiences. Based on race, both African-Americans and Caucasians have different experiences and learned behaviors. This is illustrated in a 1985 study, which showed that African Americans in general, particularly African-American women preferred interracial dating than Caucasian. However, Caucasian men preferred interracial dating more than women. One particular question that arose from this study 1) Is gender more important than race in explaining attitudes toward interracial dating?

An experimental design was used to determine if interracial dating impacts openness to other cultures. Researchers created vignettes of scenarios involving couples of different races with different backgrounds to create a manipulation to assess participants views. In addition, a quasi-experimental design evaluated the participants influences to date outside their race and analyze their openness to other cultures. Vignettes consisted of statements like Matthew is likely to be more attracted to African American women than White women, Dating outside of his race is probably a phase for Matthew that he will outgrow, and Dating outside of her race is probably a phase for Kendra that she will outgrow. Participants personal interracial and openness measures included statements like, I would never date outside of my race, I enjoy learning about cultures other than my own, I have a lot in common with Whites in the United States, and I have

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The five factors that predict interpersonal relationships are: proximity, familiarity, similarity, physical appearance, and reciprocity. Proximity refers to the geographical location of persons. People are more likely to initiate, engage, or maintain relationships if someone’s geographical location is near or convenient to the person they are to pursue. Relationships, whether romantic or platonic, are not as likely to be initiated if the proximity does not allow individuals to cross paths or maintain a certain level of communication. As well, familiarity plays an important role in the fostering of relationships. People are said to have an increased attraction and fondness for individuals that they see more often than those they do not. In lay terms, similarity can be summed up by saying that people enjoy the presence of those like (or similar) to them. Individuals are more often drawn to and feel less intimidated by others that share their culture and belief systems; thus, are more likely to form relationships with them. Next, is physical attractiveness; which can be defined in two different ways. First off, people tend to believe that beautiful things equal good things and are more likely to seek out relationships with individuals they find beautiful. However, people are also likely to form relationships with people they believe to be on

The research findings showed that a man’s sexual attraction to a woman was increased by young women associated with red, but it was not increased by older women with red. It also revealed that the older participants found the two age groups of women equal in their sexual attraction, while the younger participants did not find the older women, as sexually attractive as the younger women. The color red did not affect physical attractiveness, intellect, and empathy. In addition, the article greatly contributed to the theories of social psychology. In Exploring Psychology in Modules, the author discusses physical attractiveness. He discusses how among different cultures, men are attracted to women through signs of the body. These signs indicate fertility, which makes the man more attracted to a woman. This understanding may help to show why both age groups of men were equally attracted to the younger women in the pictures, as opposed to the older women, where only the older men found them equally attractive to the younger women (Schwarz & Singer,

In addition, an experiment by McClintock showed that women were attracted to the smell of a man who was genetically similar, but not too similar, to their fathers ((1)). Therefore, our genetic information might play a role in whether or not someone is desirable in order to avoid inbreeding or, on the other end of the spectrum, to avoid the loss of desirable gene combinations. Inevitably, however, it is our brain that processes another individual's appearance, lifestyle, how they relate to past individuals we have met, and, possibly, their pheromones. Then, based on this information, we decide, within our brain, whether or not this person is worth getting to know.

However, the interpersonal attraction of two people of opposite sex was relatively extended to a romantic

Another similar theory proposed by Patterson in 1982 deals with providing information, regulating interaction, and expressing intimacy. “However, Patterson (1982) also proposed two other functional categories, social control and service-task functions, neither of which is identified in the earlier classification systems” (Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 31). The main function, and more readily accepted is social control. Social control, or attempting to change the behavior of another, is unique because it describes a motivational contrast with the function of intimacy (Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 31). Intimacy, or the underlying affectionate reaction towards another, also deals with negative and positive reactions. The positive affect could result in concern for, liking, love, or interest in another; however, the negative ends results in dislike or hate (Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p 31). “…The social control function is characterized by independence of affect and nonverbal behavior…in some cases the real affect is opposite to the affect represented behaviorally; for example, when smiling at, gazing at, and standing close to a disliked superior to win favor with that person”(edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 31). In this case, by standing close, smiling at and gazing at a disliked superior the person is using intimacy to gain