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Similarity versus liking as determinants of interpersonal attractiveness

Psychonomic Science volume 5, pages157–158(1966)Cite this article

Abstract

In a 2 by 2 design, Ss were led to believe that a person with whom they had interacted either liked them or disliked them and that his attitudes on several issues were either similar or dissimilar to the S’s own attitudes. The results indicated that “liking” had a significant effect upon the S’s feelings for the other person — regardless of attitude similarity or dissimilarity. The results were discussed in terms of a possible alternative explanation for the bulk of the data showing a positive relationship between attitude similarity and interpersonal attraction.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. University of Texas, Austin, USA

    Elliot Aronson & Philip Worchel

Authors
  1. Elliot Aronson
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  2. Philip Worchel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elliot Aronson.

Additional information

Work on this project was sponsored jointly by NSF Grant GS 750 to Elliot Aronson and Nonr Grant 375(19) to Philip Worohel. We wish to thank Mr. Lawrence McCarron and Mr. Richard McWhirter for their help in this experiment.

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Aronson, E., Worchel, P. Similarity versus liking as determinants of interpersonal attractiveness. Psychon Sci 5, 157–158 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328329

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Keywords

  • Interesting Person
  • Attitude Item
  • Racial Prejudice
  • Face Contact
  • Interpersonal Attraction