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 …show more content…
However, this only applies if the similar characteristic is something that an individual values within them self. Leshikar & Gutchess (2015) investigated how similarity to the self influenced memory for impressions of others. To investigate this hypothesis, two experiments were undertaken in which participants formed impressions while examining faces associated with certain traits and behaviours. Participants then rated then rated the traits allowing impression memory to be influenced. It was concluded that participants were more successful at associating similar traits to positive impressions, and were less successful at associating similar traits to negative impressions. From these results, it can be concluded that positive similarity enhances an individual’s impression of others. However, this similarity effect can be often unwanted, if the unknown individual is someone who we view as undesirable. Byrne, Ervin & Lamberth (1970) concluded that the more an individual’s similarities ranked highly with that of a mentally ill patient, the more their positive view of them decreased. Rubin’s theory of ‘liking and loving’ (1973) explains that ‘liking’ is made up of two main components, affection, whereas ‘loving’ comprises of three main constituents; attachment, caring and intimacy. Rubin alludes that similarity effect arise as it is more …show more content…
The key factors influencing relationships include symmetry, childlike features and distance from mouth to nose and nose to chin. The preference for physical attractiveness is an intrinsic trait and is evident from a young age. This was demonstrated by Langlois, Roggman & Musselman, (1994) who examined babies’ reactions when showed pictures of women whose level of attractiveness varied. However, the validity of this experiment is debateable, as the concept of attractiveness varies from person to person. Although it is widely regarded that physically attractive people are believed to be more popular and socially competent Dermer & Thiel (1975) concluded that highly attractive females can be often discriminated by other females as they are viewed as vain, materialistic and egocentric. This can often lead to negative stereotypes associated with attractive people, for example blonde females are often perceived to be less intelligent than their counterparts with different hair
Physical Attractiveness And Courtship. Sexual Behaviour, I, 22-25 Walster, E. (1966) Importance Of Physical Attractiveness In Dating Behaviour. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 4, 508-516 Wilson, G. (1983) QED:The Science Of Sexual Attraction, BBC Television.
There is a famous saying that states, “ we should not judge a book by its cover”, but oftentimes the first thing noticed on a person is their looks. One’s “physical beauty” strongly influences people’s first impressions of them. As a whole, we tend to assume that pretty people are more likeable and better people than those who are unattractive. Around the world, we believe that what is beautiful is good. There is a general consensus within a culture about what is considered physically appealing and beautiful. “Physical beauty” is associated with being more sociable, intelligent, and even socially skilled. Society shares this common notion of who has and who does not have “physical beauty”. Thus, “physical beauty”, as seen
A lack of communication in any area of your relationship can cause you to miss out on what you want. For instance, in an intimate relationship, not communicating about what you need in the bedroom will result in a lack of pleasure and satisfaction. Pleasurable intimacy is important in an intimate relationship as it increases trust and the desire to keep doing intimate things!
Of the several theories we have discussed involving commitment, I have taken a particular interest in M.P. Johnson’s Theory of Commitment as I feel it very effectively dissects the primary drives that reside behind one’s desire, or lack thereof, to remain committed in a relationship. In his theory, Johnson describes three kinds of perceived commitment that ultimately lead one to the decision to stay in their relationship. These three kinds of commitment discussed are personal, moral and structural commitment (Berscheid & Regan, 2005).
As technology continuously evolves and integrates with our lives, its impact inevitably attracts the attention of people ranging from researchers to parents, and conservative elderlies to adolescents. When chatrooms and other game based chat mediums were popularized in the early 1990s, research papers, with massive empirical data, that suggested strong negative correlations between CMC and social well-being flooded academia. However, more recent studies have proved otherwise. Communication researchers Valkenburg and Peter, explore this change in data in their 2009 publication. Their paper first explores the possible aspect of CMC that might have given rise to unhealthy social life in the 90s (for example, lack of internet connectivity could
From my research I have investigated different theories pertaining to this issue. The theory most often noted in this issue is the attraction-similarity model. This theory states that the more similar two individuals are, the higher the attraction between them will be. It is generally uplifting and encouraging meeting others who are like ourselves. For example, befriending someone who has the same interests in music, food, clothing, sports, movies, or books can encourage a lasting friendship. Similarity to others does not only validate our beliefs about the world and ourselves but also creates ag...
In a growing world, relying on education and intelligence, judgments in a social environment are still continuously based off of appearance. A study of the importance of outer looks was produced through a TV game show. Contestants fought to answer questions correctly to improve their personal score. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score was asked to eliminate a team member. Although many times an unattractive player would have higher scores and could be more beneficial than another teammate, only 27% of unattractive members were chosen to advance to the next round (Belot, Bhaskar, and van de Ven 852-853). When society overlooks qualities and characteristics of high value for looks, discrimination conquers.
Tversky, A. (1977). Features of similarity. Psychological review, 84(4), 327. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/rev/84/4/327/
The halo effect phenomenon is researched by Nisbett & Wilson (1977) and published in their experimental paper titled The Halo Effect: Evidence for Unconscious Alteration of Judgments and will be the main topic of this paper. The halo effect, also known as the physical attractiveness stereotype is a form of cognitive bias in which we assume that people who are physically attractive are also blessed with other appealing attributes such as kindness and intelligence. Limited information about the halo effect is known, and experiments conducted on the topic are even scarcer. This stereotype is portrayed to us at a young age through most Disney movies where we learn that if something is beautiful it is also good. A prime example is Cinderella and
The similarity attraction theory states that people are attracted to those similar to themselves (Wee & Lee., 2017) people who share different view especially moral and political values affect how people attract others. People who perceived job applicants to be more attractive treated them better than less attractive ones. Kindness, sensitivity, intelligence, modesty and social class are a part of interpersonal attraction (Anders et al., 2016). How someone views their own physical attractiveness plays a role in interpersonal attraction someone who is confident in themselves and how they feel will make them more comfortable to approach others and develop relationships with
Employment discrimination legislation has evolved to include race, disabilities, sexual harassment of either gender, and age. In lieu of this evolution and an increasing trend toward equality for all individuals in the workplace, the time has come for the protective reach of employment discrimination law to cover ugliness. While the proposal may cause titters at first, evidence exists that discrimination based on looks (or physical appearance) occurs in the workplace. An investigation was conducted by ABC’s 20/20 news program in 1994 that sent two men and two women into the workplace to secure the same jobs (Sessions 1). The individuals were coached to act in a similar manner during the interviews and took with them resumes with matching education and experience. The only difference was that one of the men and one of the women was superior in physical attraction to their counterpart. The results demonstrate whether intentional or not, looks discrimination does play a role in the employment process “In five cases out of five, the more attractive woman got the job; in three chances out of three, the more attractive man was hired” (Sessions 1).
Lenny Laskowski (1998,1), president of LJL Seminars, notes that people always form an initial impression the first time they come in contact with someone, regardless of whether it is in person or whether it is over the telephone. Every other contact after that first time either supports or conflicts with that first impression. If a good first impression is created, the relationship grows from there, but if a bad first impression is created, “the relationship with that person can be an uphill battle.”
During our lifetime, many relationships are formed with family, friends, and significant others. These relationships are key to forming friends, work bonds and intimate connections with others. Family, friends and intimate relationships are necessary for everyday life, below I am going to discuss interpersonal relationships with each and challenges that may come.
An “ideal beauty” is an entity which is admired or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture for perfection. There is evidence that a preference for beautiful faces emerges early in child development, and that the standards of attractiveness are similar across different genders and cultures. A study published in 2008 suggests that symmetry is also important because it suggests the absence of genetic or acquired defects.
How many times have we heard or said the clique “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” yet we focus so much of our attention on our physically appearance. Everyday we encounter images in the media that make us believe we have to look a certain way. Physical beauty is portrayed as important and essential in order to find love and acceptance. Although physical beauty is moderately important, it is less than inner beauty for it diminishes with age.