PS270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Elaine Hatfield, William Proxmire, Social Exchange Theory
Document Summary
As mysterious and elusive as attraction and love might seem, social psychology has also stepped into the ring to tackle this issue. Historically, social psychology has had more to say about how people form first impressions or develop initial attractions simply because it was easier to study. But more recently, the field has also developed a good deal of scientific research on how intimate relationships are maintained and how they fall apart. Proximity & forming relationships: the very first factor that is a powerful predictor of how friendships form is how close in physical space two people are. This makes a great deal of sense given a macro-level explanation. For example, you probably would not be too surprised to hear that you are more likely to form friendships with people who live in your neighbourhood or town than you are to form friendships with people in austria.
