An experiment assessed the simultaneous effects of two interpersonal attraction factors, physical attractiveness of a target person and similarities in personal characteristics between a target and a perceiver. Participants were exposed to three pictures, each depicting a college student with varying degrees of physical attractiveness and rated the target person and themselves on personal characteristics (i.e., character traits, behavior, attitudes, demographic traits, and physical/biological traits). Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) was utilized to examine the simultaneous effects of similarities and physical attractiveness on the level of attraction while limiting common error and confounding effects. The results revealed that character traits, attitudes, and physical and/or biological traits were significant and the pattern of the influence was similar across all three attractiveness conditions. The results suggest that similarities in such personal characteristics strongly contributed to interpersonal attraction and this relationship holds for all levels of physical attractiveness of the stranger.
Alicke, M.D. (1985). Global self-evaluation as determined by the desirability and controllability of trait adjectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1621-1630.
2.
Aronson, E., & Worchel, P. (1966). Similarity versus liking as determinants of interpersonal attractiveness. Psychonomic Science, 5, 157-158.
3.
Baron, R.A., & Byrne, C. (1991). Social psychology: Understanding human interaction . Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
4.
Behling, D.U., & Williams, E.A. (1991). Influence of dress on perception of intelligence and expectations of scholastic achievement. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 9(4), 1-7.
5.
Belk, R.W. (1978). Assessing the effects of visible consumption on impression formation. In H. K. Hunt (Ed.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 5, pp. 39-47). Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research.
6.
Benson, P.L., Karabenick, S.A., & Lerner, R.M. (1976). Pretty pleases: The effects of physical attractiveness, race, and sex on receiving help. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 12, 409-415.
7.
Berscheld, E., Dion, K., Walster, E., & Walster, G.W. (1971). Physical attractiveness and dating choice: A test of the matching hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 173-180.
8.
Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1974). Physical attractiveness. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 157-215.
9.
Broome, B.J. (1981, November). The attraction paradigm revisited: Response to dissimilarity as a function of expectation of evaluation, type of message, and attribution of intent. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Anaheim, CA.
10.
Buckley, H.M., & Roach, M.E. (1974). Clothing as a nonverbal communicator of social and political attitudes. Home Economic Research Journal, 3, 94-101.
11.
Buckley, H.M., & Roach, M.E. (1981). Attraction as a function of attitudes and dress . Home Economic Research Journal, 10, 88-97.
12.
Bull, R., & Rumsey, N. (1988). The social psychology of facial appearance. New York: Springer-Verlag.
13.
Burns, L.D., & Lennon, S.J. (1993). Effect of clothing on the use of person information categories in first impressions. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 12 (1), 9-15.
14.
Byrne, D. (1961). Interpersonal attraction and attitude similarity . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 713-715.
15.
Byrne, D. (1971). The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic Press.
16.
Byrne, D. (1997). An overview (and underview) of research and theory within the attraction paradigm. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14, 417-431
17.
Byrne, D., & Clore, G.L. (1967). Effectance arousal and attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Monograph, 6(4), 1-18.
18.
Carli, L.L., Ganley, R., & Pierce-Otay, A. (1991). Similarity and satisfaction in roommate relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 419-426.
19.
Carroll, L., & Gilroy, P.J. (2002). Role of appearance and nonverbal behaviors in the perception of sexual orientation among lesbians and gay men. Psychological Reports, 91(1), 115-122.
20.
Christman, L.A., & Branson, D.H. (1990). Influence of physical disability and dress of female job applicants on interviewers. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 8(3), 51-57.
21.
Clark, M.S., & Pataki, S.P. (1995). Interpersonal processes influencing attraction and relationships. In A. Tesser (Ed.), Advanced Social Psychology. New York: McGraw Hill.
22.
Conner, B.H., Peters, K., & Nagasawa, R.H. (1975). Person and costume: Effects on the formation of first impressions. Home Economics Research Journal, 4(1), 32-41.
23.
Damhorst, M.L. (1990). In search of common thread: Classification of information communicated through dress. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 8(2), 1-12.
24.
Dion, K., Walster, E., & Berschei, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24(3): 285-290.
25.
Eagly, A.H., Ashmore, K.D., Makhijani, M.G., & Longo, L.C. (1991). What is beautiful is good, but . . . : A meta-analytic review of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 109-128.
26.
Feinberg, R.A., Mataro, L., & Burroughs, W.J. (1992). Clothing and social identity . Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 11(1), 18-23.
27.
Festinger, L., Schachter, L., & Back, K. (1950). Social pressures in informal groups. New York: Harper.
28.
Geddes, D., & Konrad, A.M. (2003). Demographic differences and reactions to performance feedback. Human Relations, 56(12), 1485-1513.
29.
Horton, R.S. (2003). Similarity and attractiveness in social perception: Differentiating between biases for the self and the beautiful. Self and Identity, 2, 137-152.
30.
Johnson, K.K.P., Schofield, N.A., & Yurchisin, J. (2002). Appearance and dress as a source of information: A qualitative approach to data collection. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 20(3),125-137.
31.
Kaplan, M.F., & Anderson, N.H. (1973). Information integration theory and reinforcement theory as approaches to interpersonal attraction . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 301-312.
32.
Kness, D., & Densmore, B. (1976). Dress and social-political beliefs of young male students. Adolescence, 11, 431-442.
33.
Kulka, R.A., & Kessler, J.B. (1978). Is justice really blind? The influence of litigant physical attractiveness or juridical judgment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 8, 366-381.
34.
Kwon, Y. (1994). The influence of appropriateness of dress and gender on the self-perception of occupational attributes. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 12(3), 33-39.
35.
Kwon, Y., & Johnson-Hillery, J. (1998). College students' perceptions of occupational attributes based on formality of business attire. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 87(3), 987-994.
36.
Lapitsky, M., & Smith, C.M. (1981). Impact of clothing on impressions of personal characteristics and writing ability. Home Economics Research Journal, 9(4), 327-335.
37.
Lasswell, T.E., & Parshall, P.F. (1961). The perception of the social class from photographers. Sociology and Social Research, 46, 407-414.
38.
Lennon, S.J., & Davis, L.L. (1989). Categorization in first impressions. The Journal of Psychology, 123(5), 439-446.
39.
Lewis, L., & Johnson, K.K.P. (1989). Effect of dress, cosmetics, sex of subject, and causal inference on attribution of victim responsibility . Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 8(1), 22-27.
40.
Li, N.P., Bailey, M., Kenrick, D.T., & Linsenmeier, J.A.W. (2002). The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences: Testing the tradeoffs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 947-955.
41.
Marks, G., & Miller, N. (1982). Target attractiveness as a mediator of assumed attitude similarity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 8, 728-735.
42.
Mashman, R.C. (1978). The effect of physical attractiveness on the perception of attitude similarity. Journal of Social Psychology, 106, 103-110.
43.
Mathes, E.W., & Kempher, S.B. (1976). Clothing as a nonverbal communicator of sexual attitudes and behavior. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 43, 495-498.
44.
Montoya, R.M., & Horton, R.S. (2004). On the importance of cognitive evaluation as a determinant of interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(5), 696-712.
45.
Newcomb, T.M. (1961). The acquaintance process. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
46.
Paek, S.L. (1986). Effect of garment style on the perception of personal traits. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 5(1), 10-16.
47.
Reaves, J.Y., & Roberts, A. (1983). The effect of type of information on children's attraction to peers. Child Development, 54, 1024-1031.
48.
Reid, A., Lancuba, V., & Morrow, B. (1997). Clothing style and formation of first impressions . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84(1), 237-238.
49.
Segal, M.W. (1974). Alphabet and attraction: An unobtrusive measure of the effect of propinquity in a field setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 654-657.
50.
Stone, G.P. (1962). Appearance and the self. In A. Rose (Ed.), Human Behavior and Social Processes (pp. 86-118). Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin .
51.
Strobe, W., Insko, C.A., Thompson, V.D., & Layton, B.D. (1971). Effects of physical attractiveness, attitude similarity, and sex on various aspects of interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18(1), 79-91.
52.
Suedfeld, P., Bochner, S., & Wnek, D. (1972). Helper-sufferer similarity and a specific request for help: Bystander intervention during a peace demonstration. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2(1), 17-23.
53.
Thurston, J.L., Lennon, S.J., & Clayton, R.V. (1990). Influence of age, body type, fashion, and garment type on women's professional image. Home Economics Research Journal, 19(2), 139-150.
54.
Veitch, R., & Griffitt, W. (1976). Good news-bad news: Affective and interpersonal effects. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 6(1), 69-75.
55.
Workman, J.E., & Johnson, K.K.P. (1989). The role of clothing in extended inferences. Home Economics Research Journal, 18(2), 164-169.
56.
Zellner, A. (1962). An efficient method of estimating seemingly unrelated regressions and tests of aggregations and tests of aggregation bias. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 57, 500-509.
