We could define interpersonal attraction as the judgment that one person makes of another along an attitudinal dimension, whose extremes are positive evaluation (love) and negative evaluation (hate). This judgment not only remains in the cognitive-evaluative dimension, but is frequently associated with: Behaviors. Feelings. Other cognitions.
Psychosocial explanations of attraction.
Search for cognitive consistency: The basic principle of all cognitive consistency theories is that we all try to maintain the coherence between our attitudes and between these and our behaviors. They are theories of this type:
- Balance theory (Heider).
- Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger).
- Congruence theory (Osgood and Tannenbaum).
Applied to the field of interpersonal attraction, they will be balanced and consistent relationships: maintaining the same ideas as our friends, the same hobbies as our partner, etc.
Association and reinforcement
- Association: We will feel attracted to those who appear associated with good experiences for us. We will dislike those who are associated with bad experiences. May and Hamilton: Evaluate the physical attractiveness of men in photos, while listening to music that pleases or dislikes. Results: Women who evaluated with background music that they liked evaluated more positively. MUM effect: People resist transmitting bad news to others, we distort it, make it less negative or keep it to ourselves, even if we have nothing to do with such news. Reason: Fear that they will associate us with the negative event and, consequently, we will be unattractive.
- Booster: We will feel attracted to those who reward us, because they produce positive feelings (those who evaluate us positively are more attractive to us than those who criticize us). These two types of mechanisms basically refer to the cognitive and evaluative effects that a person produces in us: They do not have a value in themselves, but depend on the context of interaction (the positive evaluation that someone makes of us does not have the same value if it is done by the person we love, than if it is done by someone we hate).
Exchange and interdependence
Emphasis on the role of subjective evaluations:
- Social exchange theory: A person will be attractive to us if we believe that the rewards that will be derived from such a relationship are greater than the costs involved.
- Interdependence theory: It is more specific, since it focuses on the interaction between two people.
The judgment about how beneficial a relationship can be for us and, consequently, about the attractiveness of the person involved in said relationship, depends on the comparisons we make, using two criteria:
- Comparison level: Quality of results that a person believes they deserve. It is based on past experiences and a current situation will only be beneficial if it exceeds that level of comparison.
- Level of comparison with alternatives: A relationship that is only somewhat satisfactory can be better evaluated by us if it is the only alternative we have. If a better alternative is produced (promising more rewards and fewer costs) the first one will plummet.
Attraction and interpersonal relationships
Definition: Basic human tendency that leads to seeking the company of other people.
Primary function: Guarantee the survival of both the individual and the species.
Positive results or membership functions:
- Achieve goals that we cannot achieve alone.
- Provide fun and entertainment.
- Increase our self-esteem.
- Express our sexuality.
- Learn what we don’t know.
Social psychologists have focused primarily on 2 functions of affiliation
- Reduce our anxiety and fear.
- Compensation criterion for our own attitudes and abilities.
Schachter: Experiment with the purpose of investigating whether the anxiety can lead to desire for affiliation. Strong (high anxiety)/weak (low anxiety) electric shocks. Results: The 62.5% of the students in the high anxiety condition preferred company, compared to 33% in the low anxiety condition. Why do anxious people prefer company? Do you care what type of company it is?
- If others serve as a distraction Þ Anyone would do it.
- If others serve as a guide to know how to respond or as a criterion for comparison: Only people in the same situation would serve.
Schachter: Experiment only in a high intensity situation, but with different waiting alternatives. Results: We will seek to be with other people, as long as they help us reduce our state of anxiety. There are situations in which being with other people can increase our anxiety, especially in tasks that are initially embarrassing. Sornoff and Zimbardo: Study with male patients who had to suck bottles. In other situations, the reassuring role of others is crucial. Kulik and Mahller: Patients waiting for pacemaker implantation preferred to wait with someone who had already gone through it. Fox:
- The desire to be in company was greater than that of being alone in pleasant and threatening situations.
- Desire to be alone in unpleasant situations or concentration.
Affiliation is closely related to attraction, however, they designate different realities: Surra and Milardo distinguish between:
- Interactive networks Þ Composed of people with whom we maintain frequent interactions.
- Psychological networks Þ Made up of people whom we feel close to and believe are important.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.