Introduction
Since individuals do not live in a vacuum but are integral components of society, they establish a variety of relationships with each other. This paper aims at discussing attraction, a factor that contributes to some of those relationships, such as friendship and romance. The understanding of the determinants of attraction may help people to explain their feelings toward others and supply them with strategies to increase their attractiveness. The research into the issue of interpersonal attraction shows that appearance, familiarity, similarity, and self-disclosure influence how individuals view others.
Appearance
Perhaps, the most obvious factor influencing interpersonal attraction is appearance. When seeing a person for the first time, people usually pay attention to the clothing, facial features, and expression, as well as overall neatness and cleanliness of his or her looks. It is quite natural that appearance is the first thing that determines whether an individual will be liked or not because other characteristics of a personality take time to be discovered. Research shows that people find beautiful individuals attractive not only because they are pleasant to the eye, but due to the perceived positive traits ascribed to them (Daffin and Lane 230).
It is called the halo effect, meaning that physically appealing people are regarded as more interesting, kinder, smarter, and happier (Daffin and Lane 230). As a result, beautiful individuals have an advantage over their unattractive counterparts in many fields, including the workplace, where they tend to be hired and promoted more readily (Daffin and Lane 230). Thus, people should not disregard the importance of appearance because it can help to make a good first impression and win others’ sympathy.
Familiarity
Familiarity, which means seeing a person more than once, is another factor contributing to interpersonal attraction. Research shows that mere exposure to a stimulus increases its attractiveness to a person (Daffin and Lane 229; Finkel et al. 6). For example, in one study, participants were exposed to several different faces, some of them being shown more than once (Daffin and Lane 229). The participants found repeatedly shown faces more attractive than those that they saw only one time (Daffin and Lane 229). Moreover, faces with typical features were evaluated as more appealing than those having distinctive characteristics (Daffin and Lane 229).
Another study used character traits instead of faces to test whether a person described in more detail would be regarded as more attractive (Finkel et al. 6). Surprisingly, this research discovered that the more information about an individual was provided to participants, the less they tended to like that person (Finkel et al. 6). Although the results of the studies are contradictory, it may be concluded that familiarity has a positive impact on people’s perception of someone’s physical attractiveness.
Similarity
The next factor influencing interpersonal attraction is illustrated by an old saying, “birds of a feather flock together.” People usually prefer those who resemble them in terms of “religious and political beliefs, values, appearance, educational background, age, and other demographic variables” (Daffin and Lane 231). It happens because the similarity in beliefs serves as social proof when a person sees that someone has come to the same conclusions as he or she did (Daffin and Lane 231). Furthermore, people tend to form couples based on the likeness of their appearance to that of their partners (Daffin and Lane 231). One can use this information to increase one’s attractiveness by adopting new interests that can be shared with other people.
Self-Disclosure
One more significant contributor to interpersonal attraction is self-disclosure and intimacy. If people reveal themselves to their companions, they are more likely to win them over, while those who restrain themselves from frank communication are considered less attractive (“Interpersonal Attraction”). It happens because self-disclosure serves as an indicator that a person trusts and likes his or her interlocutor, which evokes reciprocal sympathy (“Interpersonal Attraction”).
Revealing oneself not only attracts other people but also causes the speaker to like the listener more (“Interpersonal Attraction”). However, one should be careful when using this strategy to enhance one’s attractiveness because there is a risk of over disclosure (Daffin and Lane 232). It may happen when a person shares too intimate details with someone not very familiar, which results in the reduction of attractiveness (Daffin and Lane 232). Thus, self-disclosure is an effective tool for increasing one’s attraction, but it should be used wisely.
Conclusion
To sum up, appearance, familiarity, similarity, and self-disclosure contribute to interpersonal attraction. Good-looking individuals are usually more appealing and are believed to possess various positive traits. Familiarity implies that the more often people see someone, the more attractive they find him or her. Furthermore, individuals are prone to like those who share their beliefs, interests, and other attributes.
Finally, disclosing oneself increases the attraction of both the speaker and the listener. These findings can be used to boost one’s attractiveness by being mindful of one’s appearance and sharing one’s thoughts with others. Broadening one’s horizons may help to find common ground with other people more easily. To use the factor of familiarity, a person can arrange meetings with the target more frequently.
Works Cited
Daffin, Lee, and Carrie Lane. Essentials of Social Psychology. Washington State University, 2019.
Finkel, Eli J., et al. “When Does Familiarity Promote Versus Undermine Interpersonal Attraction? A Proposed Integrative Model from Erstwhile Adversaries.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 10, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3-19.
“Interpersonal Attraction.” Encyclopedia.com. 2019. Web.