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What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm, your apartment building, or your immediate neighborhood than with people who live farther away (Festinger, Schachler, & Back, 1950). It is simply easier to form relationships with people you see often because you have the opportunity to get to know them.
Similarity is another factor that influences who we form relationships with. We are more likely to become friends or lovers with someone who is similar to us in background, attitudes, and lifestyle. For the most part, similarity breeds liking, and we are attracted to people who are most like us (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). However, outside of attraction, there may be a few domains in which complementarity—the tendency for people to seek out others who are different from, and complement, their own characteristics—is beneficial, such as preferences for being more dominant versus submissive (Tiedens & Fragale, 2003).
Why do you think we are attracted to people who are similar to us? Sharing things in common will certainly make it easy to get along with others and form connections. When you and another person share similar music taste, hobbies, food preferences, and so on, deciding what to do with your time together might be easy. Homophily is the tendency for people to form social networks, including friendships, marriage, business relationships, and many other types of relationships, with others who are similar (McPherson et al., 2001).
But, homophily limits our exposure to diversity (McPherson et al., 2001). By forming relationships only with people who are similar to us, we will have homogenous groups and will not be exposed to different points of view. In other words, because we are likely to spend time with those who are most like ourselves, we will have limited exposure to those who are different than ourselves, including people of different races, ethnicities, social-economic status, and life situations. Research has shown that having diverse social networks may even lessen cognitive and physical decline associated with normal aging (Ali et al., 2018), for instance.
Once we form relationships with people, we desire reciprocity. Reciprocity is the give and take in relationships. We contribute to relationships, but we expect to receive benefits as well. That is, we want our relationships to be a two way street. We are more likely to like and engage with people who like us back. Self-disclosure is part of the two way street. Self-disclosure is the sharing of personal information (Laurenceau, Barrett, & Pietromonaco, 1998). We form more intimate connections with people with whom we disclose important information about ourselves. Indeed, self-disclosure is a characteristic of healthy intimate relationships, as long as the information disclosed is consistent with our own views (Cozby, 1973).
Attraction
We have discussed how proximity and similarity lead to the formation of relationships, and that reciprocity and self-disclosure are important for relationship maintenance. But, what features of a person do we find attractive? We don’t form relationships with everyone that lives or works near us, so how is it that we decide which specific individuals we will select as friends and lovers?
Researchers have documented several characteristics in men and women that humans find attractive. First we look for friends and lovers who are physically attractive. People differ in what they consider attractive, and attractiveness is culturally influenced. Research, however, suggests that some universally attractive features in women include large eyes, high cheekbones, a narrow jaw line, a slender build (Buss, 1989), and a lower waist-to-hip ratio (Singh, 1993). For men, attractive traits include being tall, having broad shoulders, and a narrow waist (Buss, 1989). Both men and women with high levels of facial and body symmetry are generally considered more attractive than asymmetric individuals (Fink, Neave, Manning, & Grammer, 2006; Penton-Voak et al., 2001; Rikowski & Grammer, 1999). Social traits that people find attractive in potential female mates include warmth, affection, and social skills; in males, the attractive traits include achievement, leadership qualities, and job skills (Regan & Berscheid, 1997).
Although humans want mates who are physically attractive, this does not mean that we look for the most attractive person possible. In fact, this observation has led some to propose what is known as the matching hypothesis which asserts that people tend to pick someone they view as their equal in physical attractiveness and social desirability (Taylor, Fiore, Mendelsohn, & Cheshire, 2011). For example, you and most people you know likely would say that a very attractive movie star is out of your league. So, even if you had proximity to that person, you likely would not ask them out on a date because you believe you likely would be rejected. People weigh a potential partner’s attractiveness against the likelihood of success with that person. If you think you are particularly unattractive (even if you are not), you likely will seek partners that are fairly unattractive (that is, unattractive in physical appearance or in behavior).
This text is adapted from OpenStax, Psychology. OpenStax CNX.
Qu’elles soient amicales ou romantiques, les relations que les gens nouent sont considérablement influencées par deux facteurs clés : la proximité et la similitude.
Avec la proximité, c’est-à-dire la proximité physique avec une autre personne, les deux parties peuvent interagir plus fréquemment. Par exemple, au cours de la première semaine d’université, un étudiant est plus susceptible de se lier d’amitié avec d’autres personnes qui se trouvent au même étage de leur dortoir parce qu’ils les voient constamment. Une autre raison pour laquelle la proximité conduit à l’amour est le simple effet d’exposition – l’idée que plus quelqu’un est exposé à quelque chose, plus il a tendance à l’aimer.
Ils sont également plus susceptibles de nouer des amitiés avec des personnes ayant des antécédents, des attitudes et des choix de vie similaires, comme le fait d’être le plus jeune frère ou la plus jeune sœur et d’avoir des goûts musicaux similaires.
Être attiré par des personnes partageant les mêmes idées s’appelle l’homophilie – une tendance globale à graviter vers des personnes comme nous. Bien que le partage de situations de la vie commune puisse renforcer les liens, sachez qu’une telle affinité peut également limiter l’exposition à la diversité et l’engagement avec des personnes différentes.
Une fois que de nouvelles relations sont créées, elles doivent être maintenues. Au cours de cette phase, les liens sont plus susceptibles de se maintenir lorsque les deux parties contribuent, c’est-à-dire par la réciprocité – le donnant-donnant dans la relation. Un élément important de cette voie à double sens est l’autodivulgation, c’est-à-dire le partage de renseignements personnels.
Par exemple, elle est plus susceptible d’inviter son nouvel ami à manger une pizza après qu’il l’ait déjà invitée à une soirée cinéma. On s’attend également à ce que l’amitié se renforce après avoir eu une conversation intime.
Parfois, les rencontres rapprochées peuvent mener à l’amour, surtout si les deux personnes sont attirées l’une par l’autre. Bien que les personnes qu’une personne trouve attirantes dépendent de ses préférences personnelles et de ses normes culturelles, certaines caractéristiques physiques sont considérées comme plus universellement attrayantes, comme les pommettes hautes chez les femmes et les épaules larges chez les hommes.
En fin de compte, après avoir pris en compte la proximité et la similitude, les gens « choisissent » un partenaire romantique qu’ils considèrent comme leur égal en termes d’attractivité.
