UNIT -3 INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION Loyola college.pptx

1. Interpersonal Attraction
Internal and External Determinants of Attraction, Close
Relationship, Interdependent Relationship and Romantic
Relationship, Marriage
Prof.S.Browni Amutha

2. • Human beings are social animals. Forming and
maintaining intimate and long term relationships with
others is a very crucial aspect of our social lives.
• Interpersonal attraction plays a key role in relationship
formation.
• A very pertinent question is “How do we get attracted
to others and how do we select mates?” There are
many factors which determine interpersonal attraction.
These can be divided into internal and external
determinants and factors based on interaction with
others.

3. • Interpersonal attraction is the study of the attraction
between people which leads to the development of
platonic or romantic relationships.
• Interpersonal Attraction refers to positive feelings
about another person.
• It can take many forms, including liking, love,
friendship, lust, and admiration.
•
•

4. Liking and Loving
Factors that determine liking
1. Proximity
2. Familiarity
3. Physical Attractiveness
4. Similarity
5. Reciprocity
6. Self Disclosure

5. • Proximity: People are more likely to become friends with people
who are geographically close. One explanation for this is the mere
exposure effect. The Mere Exposure Effect refers to people’s
tendency to like novel stimuli more if they encounter them
repeatedly.
• Similarity: People also tend to pick partners who are similar to
themselves in characteristics such as age, race, religion, social class,
personality, education, intelligence, and attitude.
• This similarity is seen not only between romantic partners but also
between friends. Some researchers have suggested that similarity
causes attraction. Others acknowledge that people may be more
likely to have friends and partners who are similar to themselves
simply because of accessibility: people are more likely to associate
with people who are similar to themselves.
• Reciprocity: People tend to like others who reciprocate their liking.

6. • Physical Attractiveness: Research shows that romantic
attraction is primarily determined by physical
attractiveness. In the early stages of dating, people are
more attracted to partners whom they consider to be
physically attractive. Men are more likely to value physical
attractiveness than are women.
• People’s perception of their own physical attractiveness
also plays a role in romantic love. The Matching
Hypothesis proposes that people tend to pick partners who
are about equal in level of attractiveness to themselves.
•

7. • Companionate Love: Intimacy and commitment
are the hallmarks of companionate love.
• Partners love and respect one another and they
are committed to staying together.
• But their physical attraction may have never been
strong or may have just died out. This may be
interpreted as ‘just the way things are’ after so
much time together or there may be a sense of
regret and loss.
• Nevertheless, partners are good friends
committed to one another.

8. Infatuation:
• This is Sternberg’s version of “love at first sight”.
• Infatuation consists of an immediate, intense physical
attraction to someone.
• A person who is infatuated finds it hard to think of
anything but the other person.
• Brief encounters are played over and over in one’s
head; it may be difficult to eat and there may be a
rather constant state of arousal.
• Infatuation is rather short-lived, however, lasting
perhaps only a matter of months or as long as a year or
so. It tends to be based on chemical attraction and an
image of what one thinks the other is all about

9. Theories
• Sternberg’s Triangle of Love: Three Components
• Sternberg (1988) suggests that there are three main components of love:
passion, intimacy, and commitment.
• Love relationships vary depending on the presence or absence of each of
these components.
• Passion refers to the intense, physical attraction partners feel toward one
another.
• Intimacy involves the ability the share feelings, personal thoughts and
psychological closeness with the other.
• Commitment is the conscious decision to stay together. Passion can be
found in the early stages of a relationship, but intimacy takes time to
develop because it is based on knowledge of the partner. Once intimacy
has been established, partners may resolve to stay in the
relationship. Although many would agree that all three components are
important to a relationship, many love relationships do not consist of all
three.

10. Romantic Love
• Kinds of Romantic Love
• Researchers have proposed that romantic love includes two kinds of love:
passionate love and compassionate love. These two kinds of love may
occur together, but they do not always go hand in hand in a relationship:
• Passionate Love: Involves absorption in another person, sexual desire,
tenderness, and intense emotion.
• Compassionate Love: Involves warmth, trust, and tolerance of another
person. Compassionate love is sometimes considered to have two
components: intimacy and commitment.
• Intimacy is the warm, close, sharing aspect of a relationship.
• Commitment is the intent to continue the relationship even in the face of
difficulties. Researchers believe commitment is a good predictor of the
stability of a relationship.

11. Romantic love
• Romantic love has been found in every historical era and in every
culture.
• Romantic love today is no longer the mystery it has been
considered to be throughout the ages.
• Nevertheless, there is much more to learn, and romantic love
remains a thriving topic of research for social psychologists.
• Aspects of romantic love are found in many animal species, and
love may have played a central role in shaping human evolution. In
humans, romantic love is a source of some of the deepest joys and
greatest problems, including depression, abandonment rage,
suicide. Therefore, social psychologists and other scientists have
devoted a great deal of research to understanding romantic love.

12. • Intimacy and passion are components of
romantic love, but there is no commitment.
• The partners spend much time with one another
and enjoy their closeness but have not made
plans to continue ‘no matter what’.
• This may be true because they are not in a
position to make such commitments or because
they are looking for passion and closeness and
are afraid it will die out if they commit to one
another and start to focus on other kinds of
obligations.

13. Types of Lovers
• Pragma is a style of love that emphasizes the practical aspects of
love. The pragmatic lover considers compatibility and the sensibility
of their choice of partners. This lover will be concerned with goals
in life, status, family reputation, attitudes about parenting, career
issues and other practical concerns.
• Mania is a style of love characterized by volatility, insecurity, and
possessiveness. This lover gets highly upset during arguments or
breakups, may have trouble sleeping when in love, and feels
emotions very intensely.
• Agape is an altruistic, selfless love. These partners give of
themselves without expecting anything in return. Such a lover
places the partner’s happiness above their own and is self-
sacrificing to benefit the partner.

14. • Eros is an erotic style of loving in which the person feels
consumed. Physical chemistry and emotional involvement
are important to this type of lover.
• Ludus refers to a style of loving that emphasizes the game
of seduction and fun. Such a lover stays away from
commitment and often has several love interests at the
same time. This lover does not self-disclose and in fact may
prefer to keep the other guessing. This lover can end a
relationship easily.
• Storge is a style of love that develops slowly over time. It
often begins as a friendship and becomes sexual much
later. These partners are likely to remain friends even after
the breakup.