social Psychology

Social Psychology

There are a number of varying definitions of attraction. In an interpersonal, social sense, however, attraction is simply the gravitation between a person towards another due to several factors, some of the most eminent of which are familiarity, similarity, and reciprocity. When all three of these factors are present, there is a strong propensity for attraction to exist between people. Moreover, this combination usually leads to mutual attraction.

Familiarity is often a principle determinant in attraction for the simple fact that it denotes a feeling of comfort. This feeling is conducive to attraction between people, because when they are comfortable around one another (Smith and Mackie, 2007, p. 397)they are able to relax and enjoy themselves. The degree of felicity that comfort allows is an integral part of attraction. People who are happy tend to gravitate towards others who help them feel this way. Additionally, familiarity breeds attraction in the sense that the more we get to know about something that is agreeable to ourselves, the more we tend to like it.

Similarity is important for the facilitation towards attraction for the simple fact that points of commonality between people help to assist with fostering familiarity. Additionally, those with similar interests or who have experienced similar things have commonalities that provides for interaction that is generally agreeable (Smith and Mackie, 2007, p. 400). Commonality can help to assist with familiarity, since there is a greater likelihood that similar interests can lead to additional similar interests and activities with another.

Reciprocity is the ultimate state of attraction, because it represents the stage when there is a mutual feeling of attraction between both people. Neither similarity nor familiarity guarantees that the person who is attracted towards another will be received with the same sentiment. Reciprocity represents the zenith of attraction because oftentimes, both familiarity and similarity are involved before there is reciprocal attraction.

Intimacy also has a plethora of definitions. However, it truly is more of an emotional or a mental state than a physical one, which merely implies closeness between people (Sternberg, 1997, p. 315). Intimacy is usually reciprocated between people, and is also closely associated with a feeling of fulfillment in them that is able to be measured at various point by qualities of interdependence, attachment and belonging.

True intimacy produces interdependence due to the sharing of emotions that intimacy requires. An interdependence results when things that affect one person in an intimate relationship ultimately produce an effect on the other. Because of this attribute of interdependence, this term actually refers to a joining or a sharing of lives between people. The reciprocal effect of their feelings is produced in outward manifestations, which ultimately intensifies intimacy.