PSYB10H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Interpersonal Attraction, Physical Attractiveness, Classical Conditioning
Lecture 7: Attraction and Relationships
Rules of Attraction
• Propinquity (physical/psychological/functional/distance)
• Similarity
• Beauty
• Why are people attracted to each other? Not just romantic relationships, but friendships,
professional relationships, etc
• Proximity: Diagram of an MIT apartment complex
Explanation of Proximity Effects
• Availability and proximity
o Encountering other ppl allows for and encourages formation of new relationships
o Encountering others also makes it possible to dislike those ppl
• Mere exposure
o Greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking of that stimulus, including other
ppl
▪ Greater liking due to mere exposure was found for foreign words, foreign
symbols, and yearbook photos
▪ We prefer the mirror images of our faces, but our friends prefer the true image
→ Wh Mee Eposue Causes Likig
• Fluency
o Easier to process information about familiar stimuli
o Pleasant feelings associated with more fluent processing
• Classical Conditioning
o Repeated exposure to a stimulus w/o any negative consequence makes stimulus more
pleasant
▪ Signals that the stimulus is safe and non-threatening
▪ Rats raised on Schoenberg prefer Schoenberg, those raised on Mozart prefer
Mozart
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Similarity
• Friends and romantic partners tend to be similar in beliefs and other characteristics
(attractiveness, intelligence, socioeconomic status, and so on)
o A study of romantic couples found that couples were more similar on 66 of 88 different
traits than people paired at random.
o On no characteristic were romantic couples more dissimilar than random pairs
• Studies find that we report greater liking of even fictitious people if we see them as more similar
to ourselves
• The elief that opposites attat is ot lagel suppoted the eseah
o Not much evidence for the idea of complementarity, that people seek out partners with
different characteristics to balance out their own
How Similarity Promotes Attraction
• Social validation
o Similar others have similar beliefs
o We like people who agree with us, and we generally feel uncomfortable around people
who challenge our beliefs
• More fluent interactions
o Interacting with people similar to ourselves is often easier
o Less conflict over which activities are desirable, and greater ability to understand other
pesos hoies ad pespetie
• Similar ppl have characteristics that we like
o Motivated to like ourselves
o Ppl who are similar to us, and thus share our characteristics, are easy to like
Physical Attractiveness
• Physical attractiveness plays an important role on interpersonal attraction
• Why does attractiveness matter?
• Halo effect
o People who are more physically attractive are often assumed to have other positive
traits
▪ Assumed to be more successful, likable, intelligent, happier, and so on
▪ More attractive ppl are actually happier, more confident, and more satisfied w/
their lives
• Early effects of attractiveness
o Attractive infants receive more attention from mothers than less attractive babies
o Parents attend more to attractive children
o Attractive faces preferred at an early age: children as young as 3 months prefer
attractive adult and child faces over less attractive faces
Why Does Attractiveness Matter?
• Immediacy
o Physical appearances are the first thing we notice when encountering other people.
o Appeaae affets ou iediate ad gut eatios
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find more resources at oneclass.com
→ Iedia: “peed Datig
→ Iedia: Olie Datig
Why Does Attractiveness Matter?
• Prestige
o Physical attractiveness is socially valued
o Attractive ppl and ppl with attractive partners may be seen as higher in social status
• Biology
o Responses to physical attractiveness serve biological purposes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Not just romantic relationships, but friendships, professional relationships, etc: proximity: diagram of an mit apartment complex. Fluency: easier to process information about familiar stimuli, pleasant feelings associated with more fluent processing, classical conditioning, repeated exposure to a stimulus w/o any negative consequence makes stimulus more pleasant. Signals that the stimulus is safe and non-threatening: rats raised on schoenberg prefer schoenberg, those raised on mozart prefer. Social validation: similar others have similar beliefs, we like people who agree with us, and we generally feel uncomfortable around people who challenge our beliefs, more fluent interactions. Interacting with people similar to ourselves is often easier: less conflict over which activities are desirable, and greater ability to understand other pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)(cid:859)s (cid:272)hoi(cid:272)es a(cid:374)d pe(cid:396)spe(cid:272)ti(cid:448)e. Similar ppl have characteristics that we like: motivated to like ourselves, ppl who are similar to us, and thus share our characteristics, are easy to like.
