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Interpersonal Attraction — Previous Year Questions

📊 Topic Overview​

MetricValue
Total Appearances20 (7.1% of all questions)
Priority🔴 HIGH — appears in 11 of 14 years
Section DistributionSec A: 10
Most Repeated QuestionInterpersonal attraction and factors affecting it (11 times)
ProbabilityVery High

🎯 Must-Know Concepts​

  1. Definition of interpersonal attraction
  2. Factors affecting attraction: proximity, similarity, physical attractiveness, reciprocity, familiarity
  3. Heider's Balance Theory applied to attraction
  4. Evolutionary theory of attraction
  5. Theories: Social exchange, reinforcement-affect model

🔥 Most Repeated Question: Interpersonal Attraction and Factors Affecting It (11 appearances)​

Appeared in: 2011-June, 2011-Dec, 2013-June, 2014-Dec, 2015-Dec, 2016-Dec, 2017-Dec, 2018-Dec, 2022-Dec, 2023-June, 2024-Dec

Answer (Section A — ~450 words):​

Interpersonal attraction refers to positive feelings towards another person — liking, friendship, or romantic interest. It is the foundation of social relationships and has been studied extensively in social psychology to understand why we are drawn to particular individuals.

1. Proximity (Propinquity) Physical closeness increases the likelihood of interaction, which increases familiarity, which increases liking. Festinger, Schachter, and Back's (1950) Westgate housing study found that residents of a housing complex were most likely to form friendships with physically close neighbours — even staircase position predicted friendship. The mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968) provides a mechanism: repeated exposure to any stimulus — including people — increases positive evaluation, even without conscious awareness. This explains attraction to classmates, co-workers, and neighbours.

2. Similarity We are attracted to people who share our attitudes, values, personality traits, and interests. Byrne's (1971) repulsion hypothesis and similarity-attraction relationship demonstrated that attitude similarity consistently predicts liking, with the relationship approximately linear. Similarity reduces uncertainty (we can predict similar others' behaviour), validates our worldview, and suggests potential for harmonious interaction. The matching hypothesis (Walster) proposes that people seek romantic partners of approximately equal physical attractiveness.

3. Physical Attractiveness Physical attractiveness exerts a powerful influence on initial attraction — the halo effect leads people to assume attractive individuals possess positive traits (intelligence, warmth, social competence). Dion, Berscheid, and Walster (1972) demonstrated the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype. Evolutionary theory (Buss, 1989) explains cross-cultural preferences for physical features indicating reproductive fitness — symmetrical faces, clear skin, and sex-typical features signal genetic health.

4. Reciprocity of Liking People like those who like them. Knowing that someone evaluates us positively increases our liking for that person. This gain-loss effect (Aronson and Linder, 1965) demonstrates that someone who initially dislikes us but comes to like us is liked more than someone who consistently liked us — the increase in positive regard is especially reinforcing.

5. Familiarity (Mere Exposure) As noted, repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking. This operates even for unfamiliar faces presented subliminally. Familiarity reduces uncertainty and increases comfort. The mere exposure effect has practical implications — sitting next to the same person repeatedly increases attraction.

Theoretical Frameworks: Social exchange theory holds that attraction is maintained when rewards (companionship, status, physical attractiveness) outweigh costs (conflict, demands). The reinforcement-affect model (Byrne and Clore) proposes that we are attracted to people associated with positive affect — either because they provide direct rewards or because they are present when we feel good.

In conclusion, interpersonal attraction is multiply determined by spatial, social, and psychological factors. Understanding these factors explains the formation of friendships and romantic relationships and has practical applications in relationship counselling and social design.

📝 Other Questions​

Discuss Heider's Balance Theory with reference to interpersonal attraction (Section B — ~250 words)​

Fritz Heider's (1958) balance theory analyses cognitive consistency in triadic relationships involving a person (P), another person (O), and an attitude object (X).

Balanced Triads: A triad is balanced when all three relationships are positive, or when two are negative and one is positive. Balanced triads are psychologically comfortable and stable.

Example: P likes O, P likes X (a film), O likes X → all positive → balanced, comfortable.

Example: P likes O, P dislikes X, O also dislikes X → two negatives + one positive → balanced.

Imbalanced Triads: When the product of the three signs is negative (e.g., P likes O, P likes X, O dislikes X), the triad is imbalanced — producing psychological tension. The person is motivated to restore balance by changing one of the relationships (e.g., liking X less, liking O less, or perceiving that O actually likes X).

Implications for Attraction: Balance theory predicts we like people who share our attitudes (balanced) and dislike those who disagree with us on issues we care about (imbalanced). It explains the similarity-attraction link. It also predicts guilt-by-association (liking someone who associates with a disliked other reduces our liking for them) and explains why shared enemies create strong bonds.

Limitations: The theory is qualitative and does not capture the strength of relationships. Insko and Schopler pointed out that not all imbalanced triads produce equal discomfort.

🧠 Memory Aids​

Factors in Attraction (PSPRF): Proximity, Similarity, Physical attractiveness, Reciprocity, Familiarity

Heider Balance: All positive = balanced; Two negatives + one positive = balanced; One negative alone = imbalanced

📚 Related Content​

✅ Self-Assessment​

  1. What is the mere exposure effect and how does it relate to attraction?
  2. What does the matching hypothesis predict about romantic partner selection?
  3. Explain a balanced and an imbalanced triad in Heider's theory with examples.
  4. What is the gain-loss effect (Aronson and Linder)?
  5. How does evolutionary theory explain physical attractiveness preferences?

💡 Exam Tips​

  • Section A: Open with definition → 5 factors (each named, explained, with study/researcher) → theoretical framework → conclusion.
  • Name at least 3 researchers (Festinger for proximity, Byrne for similarity, Zajonc for mere exposure, Dion et al. for attractiveness).
  • For Heider's Balance Theory question, always draw a diagram — P-O-X triangle with + and − signs — examiners expect it.