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We could define interpersonal attraction as the judgment that one person makes of another along an attitudinal dimension, the extremes of which are positive evaluation (love) and negative evaluation (hate). This judgment is not only in the cognitive-evaluative dimension, but is frequently associated with: Behaviors. Feelings. Other cognitions.
You may also be interested in: Factors that influence attractionPsychosocial explanations of the attraction.
Search for cognitive consistency: The basic principle of all cognitive consistency theories is that we all try to maintain coherence between our attitudes and between them and our behaviors. They are theories of this type:
- Theory of equilibrium (Heider).
- Theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger).
- Theory of congruence (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 be 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 likes or dislikes. Results: The women who evaluated with background music that they liked, evaluated more positively. MUM effect: People resist giving bad news to others, we distort it, make it less negative or we keep it quiet, even if we have nothing to do with such news. Reason: Fear of being associated with the negative event and, consequently, we are unattractive.
- Reinforcement: We will be attracted to those who reward us, as 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 rather depend on the interaction context (the positive evaluation that someone makes of us, does not have the same value if the person we love does it, than if someone we hate does).
Exchange and interdependence
Emphasis on the role of subjective evaluations:
- Theory of social exchange: 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.
- Theory of interdependence: It is more specific, as it focuses on the interaction between two people.
The judgment on how beneficial a relationship can be for us and, consequently, on the attractiveness of the person involved in said relationship, depends on the comparisons we make, using two criteria:
- Level of comparison: Quality of the results that a person believes he deserves. 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 (it promises more rewards and lower costs) the former 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: I experiment with the purpose of investigating whether anxiety can lead to the desire for affiliation. Strong (high anxiety) / weak (low anxiety) electrical shocks. Results: 62.5% of the students in the high anxiety condition preferred the 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 the 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: I experiment only in high intensity situations, but with different waiting alternatives. Results: We will seek to be together with other people, as long as they help us to reduce our state of anxiety. There are situations in which, being with other people, can increase our anxiety, especially in initially embarrassing tasks 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 been through it. Fox:
- The desire to be in company was greater than the desire to be alone in pleasant and threatening situations.
- Desire to be alone in unpleasant or concentrated situations.
Affiliation is closely related to attraction, however, they designate different realities: Surra and Milardo distinguish between:
- Interactive networks Þ Made up of people with whom we have frequent interactions.
- Psychological networks Þ Made up of people whom we feel close to and believe are important.
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