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Attraction Principles in New Perspectives

The similarity effect is among the most well-established findings in reference to interpersonal attraction. Attraction and mating preference studies have focused primarily on one principle of attraction at a time while measuring its effects within a controlled environment. Some of the most well-known attraction principles may not have the consistent predictive abilities as previously lead to believe.

However, one study mainly focused on the role of the self-expansion model in interpersonal attraction. The self-expansion model states that there is a fundamental motivation within people to expand the self to increase our probability to reach future and potential goals. This expansion can be done through the formation and maintenance of close relations with others, which helps us to retain the benefits of their resources, perspectives, and identities. In order to examine the extent at which the self-expansion model plays in interpersonal attraction, this study manipulated expectation of a likely relationship and similarity of interest (activities) of a same gender confederate, who posed as a stranger. The study measured liking for the confederate. The way one seeks to expand oneself can vary based on the certainty or uncertainty of the development of a relationship with that person. There is value to forming lasting relationships with both similar and dissimilar persons. However, the study showed with men, a relationship with a dissimilar or a similar seems more advantageous under the specified circumstances of either a relationship being highly likely or the possibility of a relationship uncertain. A similar study by Goldstein and Rosenfeld (1969) stated that those tested with a standard personality test and demonstrated a low "need for approval" or who were assessed as low on "fear of rejection" found similarity to be of less importance.

The similarity principle has shown, in the past, that people are attracted to those with similar attitudes and to an extent similar personality traits for reasons such as validating their self-concept and creating a sense of familiarity. Reciprocity was demonstrated most significantly when it was applied to two specific individuals compared to when it was observed in a general sense. Beauty has shown that physical attractiveness is an accurate indicator of initial attraction. Research previously showed that security has been correlated to the attachment theories and stated that most people are attracted to secure partners over avoidant and anxious. This study looks at all these previously well researched principles of attraction but in a realistic environment that was outside of the laboratory, giving the participants the actual opportunity to form real relationships. The setting for the experiment was a speed-dating atmosphere that could help to observe initial attraction in a more life-like situation under a more long-term context due to the participants choosing to take part in it with hopes of finding a life partner.

Within the study, the researchers focused on reports of the participant’s own characteristics, the characteristics of their partner, and the relationship between the two partners. All three of these components contributed greatly to the variance in attraction. The researchers collected significant correlational differences across sexes with only five partner characteristics: age, neuroticism, extroversion, negative affect, and avoidance. Partner characteristics were more accurate in predicting attraction for men as opposed for women. More so, the strongest predictor of initial attraction was physical attractiveness for both sexes equally. The correlation was strong and positive, indicating that our spontaneous behavior may not always line up with our rational, conscious mind in the instance of mate preference. In order for the reciprocity principle to have a strong effect, an individual needed to be aware of their partner’s feelings, suggesting this principle happens at a more conscious level. There was no strong evidence dyadic reciprocal liking between the pair when the individual was unaware of how their partner felt towards them. Similarly, another study testing potential mediators to interpersonal attraction discovered that inferred attraction, which is comparable to reciprocity, indeed had the potential to intervene with the attitude similarity-attraction link. Furthermore, similarity did not carry much weight in the prediction of initial attraction within this real-life context.