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When similars do not attract: Tests of a prediction from the self-expansion model
Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis from the self-expansion model that the usual effect of greater attraction to a similar (vs. dissimilar) stranger will be reduced or reversed when a person is given information that a relationship would be likely to develop (i.e., that they would be very likely to get along) with the other person. The study employed the “bogus stranger” paradigm and focused on similarity/dissimilarity of interests in the context of attraction to a same-gender other. The effect for similarity under conditions in which no information is given about relationship likelihood replicated the usual pattern of greater attraction to similars. However, as predicted, a significant similarity by information interaction demonstrated that this effect was significantly reduced (and slightly reversed) when participants had been given information that the partner will like self. In analyses for each gender separately, both of these effects were significant only for men, suggesting that the focus on interest similarity may have been less relevant for women.
... An intimate relationship is a powerful means to achieve self-expansion and its motivation is the interaction between people and other objects (Aron and Aron, 1986). When other individuals merge with the self, it produces a high level of positive affect arousal; that is, self-expansion is a driving force for the development of close, positive relationships between people with similar personalities and interests (Aron et al., 2006). Self-expansion was originally used to describe romantic relationships (Fraley and Aron, 2004); however, the theory has since been extended to the relationship between consumers and brands. ...
... Self-expansion affects consumers' self-concept by mediating the relationship between self-congruity and brand/destination, thereafter affecting their brand choice and experience. Specifically, self-expansion is a driving force for developing positive relationships between tourists and brands/destinations with similar qualities and traits (Aron et al., 2006). Self-expansion assists tourists with self-congruity with food to gain a positive brand experience through the enhancement of self-awareness (Mattingly and Lewandowski, 2014). ...
... In other words, self-expansion is a potent mediator in building a positive relationship between tourists and Creative Cities of Gastronomy. Self-expansion implies expanding self-awareness through partners with similar interests and values (Mattingly and Lewandowski, 2014); therefore, Creative Cities of Gastronomy should focus on conserving their unique food culture, sustaining the award and creating a solid image as a food destination, which would develop a sense of closeness for tourists whose self-concept is as foodies or food lovers (Aron et al., 2006). ...
Purpose
This study explores the brand management and marketing of Creative Cities of Gastronomy. A framework based on brand experience was constructed to investigate its relationship with tourists' brand attachment and brand identification. Two factors that enable tourists to have a stronger brand experience from the self-concept perspective – self-congruity and self-expansion – were also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted a quantitative research design and collected data from participants who had visited Creative Cities of Gastronomy. A total of 515 valid questionnaires were collected online and offline. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis and hypothesis testing.
Findings
The results showed that brand experience positively affects brand identification and attachment. The brand experience of tourists who considered themselves to be “foodies” was enhanced in the Creative Cities of Gastronomy through self-congruity. The results also confirmed that the relationship between self-congruity and brand experience is mediated by self-expansion.
Originality/value
Studies on the Creative Cities of Gastronomy are limited. The few that have explored these cities are dominated by qualitative approaches. This study applied empirical data to examine the brand experience in Creative Cities of Gastronomy. The authors successfully verified that brand experience is effective for building positive relationships with brand attachment and identification. The study also confirmed that self-congruity and self-expansion are important antecedents of brand experience in Creative Cities of Gastronomy. This study enriches the literature by providing empirical evidence and insights into the marketing and branding of these cities.
... For example, people often experience self-expansion when taking up new hobbies, learning a new skill, or starting a new book. One way that people self-expand is through their involvement in romantic relationships by incorporating the resources, perspectives, and identities of one's partner into the self ( A. Aron et al., 2006). Self-expansion tends to be highest in the early stages of relationships as partners are getting to know each other, but partners in long-term relationships can continue to self-expand by engaging in novel shared activities ( A. Aron et al., 2000). ...
... Unlike these traditionally studied contexts, intercultural romantic relationships are both more intimate and complex because of the high level of interdependence and frequent contact across different domains, resulting in opportunities that are unique to romantic partnerships. As A. Aron et al. (2006) note, similarities and differences work together in romantic relationship formation. On one hand, similarity plays a role in relationship initiation in that it enhances intimacy. ...
Intercultural romantic relationships are increasingly common and although the obstacles such couples face are well documented, the factors that facilitate their success are less studied. Although cultural differences may present challenges, they also offer opportunities for self-expansion—personal growth via new perspectives, knowledge, and identities. In three studies using cross-sectional, dyadic, longitudinal, and experimental methods ( N Total = 896), self-expansion was associated with relationship quality and identity outcomes (i.e., identity integration, cultural self-awareness). Self-expanding through a partner’s culture (i.e., cultural self-expansion) was uniquely related to identity outcomes, beyond self-expanding more generally ( relational self-expansion). Furthermore, actively sharing cultures and discussing their differences were linked to greater cultural and relational self-expansion, which in turn differentially predicted partners’ relationship quality and cultural identities. These studies provide a first look at the role of self-expansion in intercultural relationships, demonstrating that the way couples negotiate their cultures is linked to both relational and personal outcomes.
... In addition, previous research has found that sharing rare attitudes leads to especially strong liking (e.g., Alves, 2018;Montoya & Horton, 2013;Vélez, Bridgers, & Gweon, 2019), and so do attitudes that people perceive as important or central to them (Bahns, Crandall, Gillath, & Preacher, 2017;Montoya & Horton, 2013). Also, the effect is moderated by the expectation that the development of an actual relationship with this person is likely or unlikely (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). That is, the similarity effect is reduced when participants learn that they are very likely to get along with the other person. ...
... That is, the similarity effect is reduced when participants learn that they are very likely to get along with the other person. Aron et al. (2006) explain this with the selfexpansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships. Accordingly, dissimilar people offer the opportunity to expand the self and can therefore seem more attractive than similar people, as long as there is certainty that the other person will like the self. ...
Sharing attitudes leads to liking. While this similarity effect is well-established, past research rarely addressed whether positive and negative attitudes differ in their potential to elicit liking. Hence, it is unclear whether people prefer others who share their likes or others who share their dislikes. Four studies (N = 402) showed that likes have a stronger potential to elicit liking than dislikes. That is, participants found others who shared their likes more likable than others who shared their dislikes (Study 1). Also, participants found others who did not share their likes least likable, while not sharing dislikes was not as detrimental to liking (Study 2). We argue that three aspects contribute to this finding. First, people generally prefer likers to dislikers (Study 3). Second and third, likes are stronger and more self-revealing than dislikes (Studies 2 & 4). We discuss the present work's novel insights into the similarity effect and their implications for dating and friendship initiation.
... People are especially likely to seek or at least not run from social challenges if they are extraverted, sensation-seeking, and approach-oriented (e.g., Aron et al., 1998;Mattingly et al., 2012;Paolini et al., 2016;Stürmer et al., 2013), desperately seeking social connection to satisfy their unmet need to belong (e.g., Maner et al., 2007) in situations that give them reason to expect that initially threatening social encounters will develop into desirable relationships (e.g., Aron et al., 2006), or considering abstract, psychologically distant social possibilities (e.g., Fujita et al., 2006;Kross & Grossmann, 2012). However, though certain people may seek out social challenges under certain circumstances, we propose that similarity-seeking steers the social choices of the majority of people in the majority of contexts. ...
... Specifically, the self-expansion literature clarifies that people seek self-expansion opportunities that can be had without enduring substantial social challenges. For example, Aron and colleagues (e.g., Aron et al., 2001Aron et al., , 2006 have proposed that self-expansion motivation leads people to seek social partners who do not seem radically different, because relationships rooted in shared commonality are more likely to survive and deepen over time, thereby increasing the opportunity to expand one's self-concept through absorption of a partner's traits. This implies that motivation for social self-expansion normally involves interest in exposure to novel but comfortable social experiences that would probably not serve as useful rehearsal for confronting unfamiliar social situations beyond one's comfort zone. ...
This paper introduces the social self-restriction (SSR) model, which highlights a drawback associated with the increasingly accessible privilege of social autonomy. Social autonomy enables individuals to connect with preferred social partners and avoid undesirable others. The benefits of social autonomy are undeniable; however, the SSR model makes the novel assertion that people tend to exercise social autonomy in ways that ultimately constrain their potential for social empowerment—a higher-order form of personal freedom. Attaining the ideal of high social empowerment requires both high social autonomy and high social adaptability. People with high social adaptability can feel reasonably comfortable and act competently in social environments they did not choose to inhabit. Unfortunately, people with high social autonomy are unlikely to possess high social adaptability. We propose that social autonomy undermines social adaptability by tempting people to avoid social challenges and socialize selectively with similar others in familiar contexts, a habit that limits social skill development, promotes social intolerance, and distorts social perceptions. In essence, we argue that social autonomy allows people to live in their social comfort zones, at the cost of restricting their social range. Our discussion of the SSR model incorporates evidence and perspectives from a broad range of academic disciplines, and includes consideration of opportunities for future research.
... Thus, in the context of learning, avatars can serve a critical function by representing a teacher or trainer (Bedwell et al. 2012). In online learning settings, it becomes more important that learners develop a positive feeling about their virtual teacher by feeling closer to something or someone (Aron et al. 2006). This kind of positive feeling can be described as emotional attachment and can be described as "an emotion-laden, target specific bond between a person and a specific object" (Thomson et al. 2005, p. 77). ...
... Regarding the avatar design configurations, it is important to consider the familiarity of an avatar in online trainings (Christy and Fox 2016;Mattingly and Lewandowski 2013;Scaife and Rogers 2001). The relevance of familiarity can be explained by selfexpansion theory, which predicts that engaging in an activity with a friend or a known person leads individuals to experience self-expansion (Aron et al. 2006). When using a familiar avatar, learners might be able to develop a relationship and an emotional bond with their avatar. ...
In online learning settings interactive and meaningful feedback is becoming increasingly important. However, feedback from teachers is oftentimes missing in online learning settings. To overcome challenges that arise from the missing representation of teachers, our study analyzes the relevance of avatar designs in learning settings. We therefore rely on avatars as game design elements and analyze how their design can influence emotional attachment, learning process satisfaction, and extraneous cognitive load in learning. To achieve our goal, we conduct a qualitative comparative analysis with 998 datasets that were collected in a 2x2x2 pre-post online experiment that was developed to train participants in learning functions in Excel. Our results indicate that interaction, familiarity, motivation, and aesthetic experiences are important configurations for avatars that are used in learning. We contribute to different streams of theory such as self-expansion and guide practitioners by providing implications about how to create meaningful avatar designs for learning applications.
... Pesquisas apontam que a congruência de valores entre os membros de um canal possui um efeito positivo no relacionamento (Cazier, Shao, & Louis, 2017;Kashyap & Sivadas, 2012;Zhang & Bloemer, 2008). Dessa forma, espera-se que quanto mais parecidos os indivíduos envolvidos em um relacionamento B2B quanto à seus valores pessoais (congruência), melhor a relação entre as empresas, e quanto mais diferentes os valores pessoais desses indivíduos (incongruência), pior o relacionamento, já que as pessoas são mais atraídas por aquelas que são semelhantes a elas (Zhang & Bloemer, 2008), e testes da ideia de que "os opostos se atraem" geralmente não têm sucesso (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006 As hipóteses H1 e H2 consideram que dois indivíduos podem ser congruentes porque possuem determinado valor (alta congruência), ou porque não possuem determinado valor (baixa congruência). Em ambas, espera-se que a congruência entre cada uma das dimensões de valores pessoais de Schwartz et al. (2012) ...
... O efeito da incongruência das dimensões de foco pessoal no Valor do Relacionamento se mostrou mais intenso e positivo do que a congruência, o que indica que sempre é melhor ter um vendedor com baixa Autopromoção se relacionando com um agricultor com alta Autopromoção, do que dois indivíduos parecidos quanto à essa dimensão. Nesse caso, e exclusivamente, a lógica de que "os opostos se atraem" parece fazer sentido, contrariando a afirmação de Aron et al. (2006). ...
Agradecimentos O presente trabalho foi realizado com apoio da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-Brasil (CAPES)-Código de Financiamento 001. Resumo O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito da congruência e da incongruência entre os valores pessoais dos vendedores e agricultores no Valor do Relacionamento B2B. Foram utilizadas as escalas de Valores Pessoais e de Valor do Relacionamento, aplicadas em díades formadas por 27 vendedores e 317 agricultores. As hipóteses foram testadas por meio de regressões polinomiais com análise de superfície de resposta e os resultados demonstram que a congruência e a incongruência têm efeitos distintos, dependendo da dimensão de valores pessoais em questão. Para valores de foco social, tanto a congruência quanto a incongruência podem ser benéficas para o Valor do Relacionamento. Para valores de foco pessoal, a incongruência pode ser mais favorável que a própria congruência. Este estudo contribui para o avanço da teoria em marketing de relacionamento, por integrar medidas referentes a valores pessoais e ao relacionamento em um mercado B2B, integração essa, até então não identificada na teoria estudada.
... Relatedly, individuals may seek out friends who are similar to themselves because such friends can help provide a sense of affirmation (Caspi, Herbener, & Ozer, 1992;Caspi & Roberts, 2001;Swann & Read, 1981). On the other hand, theories like the interpersonal theory and self-expansion theory argue that rather than seeking similar others, people may develop relationships with dissimilar others who can potentially enhance and/or complement themselves (Aron & Aron, 1996;Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). ...
... Additionally, perceivers seek those who are slightly but ''not too much better versions" of themselves. These findings are particularly useful in terms of considering the implications of two frequently employed frameworks pertaining to first impressions: the similarity-attraction hypothesis (Byrne, 1971) and the selfexpansion hypothesis (Aron et al., 2006). Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954;Gibbons & Buunk, 1999) suggests that individuals seek to enhance their self-esteem by engaging in upward comparison with people who are similar to themselves. ...
We investigate the effects of perceivers’ impressions of others’ personality traits on their social attraction, after a brief encounter face-to-face or via Facebook. We first examine the main effects of perceived personality traits. Next, we compare and contrast the effects of perceived- and actual- personality similarity through polynomial regressions with response surface analysis (RSA) accounting for dyads’ respective levels of personality traits. Results suggest that RSA yield estronger effects of perceived similarity (vs. actual) on attraction. Perceivers are more attracted to targets who are “better versions” of themselves, yet too much discrepancy impede attraction, more so when face-to-face.
... However, there is a lack of understanding of how "dissimilarities" matter in relationships, thus research that moves to a greater focus on the processes by which similar and different partners negotiate their drinking and their relationship is warranted. Most people find similarity rewarding, but some people may find differences rewarding [3]. The nature of difference and the reward value for being different may depend on the individual. ...
... A potential partner with different interests offers new experiences and possibilities, which should provide new and rewarding feelings. Although most people find similarity rewarding, some people may find differences rewarding [3]. The nature of difference and the reward value for being different may depend on the individual. ...
... Further, this pattern of response latencies predicted self-report relationship quality, including subjective closeness over a 3month period (see, Aron et al., 2001). One unique feature of the self-expansion model is that it places a premium on forming close relationships with dissimilar others (e.g., Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006), thus offering an alternative to the dominant view in the study of interpersonal relations that similarity breeds attractiveness. Similar others, by definition, offer little in terms of novel resources, perspective and identities, while dissimilar others offer resources, perspectives and identities not currently available to the self. ...
... Thus, a motivation to self-expand through social relationships should naturally draw people towards dissimilar others. Yet, according to Aron et al. (2006), similarity and differences play unique roles in interpersonal attraction. ...
Sixty years of research on intergroup contact demonstrates that positive interactions across group boundaries can improve intergroup attitudes and can contribute to forging tolerant, integrated, multicultural societies. However, to fully realize the benefits of growing diversity around the globe, individuals need to exploit opportunities for intergroup contact that are available to them. Yet, it is relatively unknown why people might deliberately engage in cross-group interactions and how individuals’ expectations and motives prepare them to develop positive interpersonal relationships with outgroup members. In this article, we begin to address these research gaps. We discuss the self-expansion model and present new evidence that is consistent with this model. Two studies, one correlational in a cross-cultural setting and the other experimental, show the value of high self-expansion expectancies and motivation in promoting interest in and producing more and higher quality interactions across group boundaries. We discuss implications of these findings for policy and intervention.
... Self-expansion theory, therefore, implies that individuals are more inclined to seek fulfilling relationships with people who differ from themselves (for evidence, see Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). That is, once individuals establish a relationship with someone who manifests a capability or quality they have not acquired, their need to self-expand is fulfilled. ...
... Yet, contrary to the hypotheses, even when participants reported a sense of connection to the future, perceived differences in capabilities were negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. That is, these findings diverge from the assumption that differences between partners can be beneficial, at least in some settings, as underscored by Aron et al. (2006). ...
Whether perceived differences between romantic partners compromises or enhances relationships may depend on the characteristics of individuals. This study explores the possibility that differences in capabilities but not motives enhance relationship satisfaction—but only when the individuals feel connected to their future identity. In particular, when individuals feel connected to their future identity, their primary motivation is to accrue capabilities and resources that could be useful in subsequent decades. They will thus seek partners with capabilities they have yet to acquire because, consistent with self-expansion theory, they tend to perceive these abilities as part of their own self-concept. To test this premise, 152 individuals rated the motives and capabilities of both themselves and their partners and also answered questions that gauge their relationship satisfaction and connectedness to their future identity. Perceived differences in motives and capabilities were inversely associated with relationship satisfaction. However, when participants felt connected to their future identity, the inverse association between differences in capabilities and relationship satisfaction diminished. Accordingly, if individuals perceive their lives as stable, they can embrace some differences between themselves and their partner.
... When the importance between a brand's and a consumer's values matches, it coincides with the deep need and automatic behavior of people to form closer relationships with others that are similar to themselves in relevant ways, as explained by the similarity-attraction theory (Aron, Steele, Kashdan & Perez, 2006;Finkel & Baumeister 2019;McPherson, Smith-Lovin & Cook, 2001;Ruijten, 2020) and the brand-identi cation theory (Sihvonen, 2019;Stokburger-Sauer et al., 2012. Moreover, a match with a brand regarding the importance of values also positively affects the consumers' evaluation of the functional attributes of the brand. ...
This study is based on research focused on the importance of values in marketing communication. It looks into the effects of self-transcendent values as used by purpose brands, in comparison to self-enhancement values. In this context, values are important life goals on which the attitudes and actions of people in various situations are based. The results of an experiment (N = 1000) set up to this end show that self-transcendental values are considered to be more important than self-enhancement values. Also, the use of self-transcendental values leads, both directly and indirectly, to stronger perceived product quality, a more positive brand attitude and increased consideration to buy than the use of self-enhancement values. The indirect and positive effect of values on the dependent variables is the result of mediation through consumer brand identi cation. The current study complements previous research conducted into the importance of different value types in consumer behavior and provides new insights into which value type is more bene cial for purpose marketing efforts.
... Improving self-efficacy by expanding one's self is a basic motivation for people. Furthermore, the experiment of Aron et al. (2006) verified the hypothesis that "the possibility of developing relationships will weaken the effect of similarity on initial attractiveness. " The viewer's inspiration in the context of short videos is a business model based on interpersonal relationships, which shows that viewers already exist or have the possibility of developing relationships in the future. ...
Introduction
Short video communities have proliferated recently, opening up a new channel for the promotion of online businesses. The main challenge in marketing with short videos is how to inspire consumers.
Methods
This study employs viewer social identification and self-expansion as its entrance point to to explain how uploader-viewer similarity affects viewers’ short video inspiration. We use empirical investigation method based on the data of 310 short video viewers to test our conceptual model.
Results
We found that there is a double-edged relationship between uploader-viewer similarity and short video inspiration. Particularly, uploader-viewer similarity enhances perceived social identification while reducing perceived self-expansion. The association between Uploader-viewer similarity and short video inspiration is moderated by viewers’ cognitive demands.
Discussion
These results provide a new perspective for enterprises to manage the relationship between viewers and media.
... As such, the system may cause effects that differ from those of simple government policies. In particular, regarding local brands, the formation of partnerships with stakeholders plays an important role in relation to major decision making in the process of the establishment of brand policies in the region [75]. The brand of the region can be established according to the results of stakeholder networks and partnerships based on local residents' participation and vision sharing. ...
Taking note of the role played by local tourism governance as viewed from the tourist’s gaze, this study examined the effects of local tourism governance on the awareness of local tourism brand equity and local tourism attachment as perceived by tourists. This study also attempted to identify the role and importance of externally-expressed local tourism governance. In total, 439 samples were collected from tourists who had recently experienced local tourism in South Korea; these samples were analyzed using SPSS. The implications derived from the results of the analysis are as follows. First, regarding the effects that the operation of local tourism governance have on brand equity, it was identified that the factors of partnership and institutionalization had significant positive effects on both brand images and brand awareness, where the effect of partnership was the strongest, and where participation only had a significant positive effect on the brand images. Second, regarding the relationship between the operation of local tourism governance and brand equity, it was found that, from the viewpoint of tourists, the governance support system negatively affects brand equity. Lastly, as has been shown in previous studies, both brand images and brand awareness—which are two core sub-factors of local tourism-brand equity—had significant effects on local tourism attachment; of them, brand awareness played a stronger role in the formation of local tourism attachment. Future studies should examine the functional role of local tourism governance based on field investigations at multiple destinations, checking the actual effects of local tourism governance while focusing on the associations between the role of local tourism governance and actually measurable indicators, such as revitalization of the local industrial economy, increases in income, performance in terms of attracting tourists, and improved satisfaction with local tourism.
... Smartwatch use and user experience Self-expansion theory contains two core components: motivation for self-expansion, which is an intrinsic motivation, and the inclusion of others in the self, which is a cognitive process (Aron and Aron, 1996). Self-expansion motivation is a core human motivation that drives people to acquire new resources, ideas, and identities to enhance their self-efficacy for achieving desired goals (Aron et al., 2006). Self-expansion is the individual perception of enhanced self-awareness after one party acquires new resources, ideas, or identities from another party (Mao et al., 2019). ...
People are increasingly using smartwatches in their daily lives. Scholars have focused on the drivers of the initial and continued use of smartwatches, while few studies have dealt with the outcomes of smartwatch use. Therefore, this study explores the impact of smartwatch use on user experience (self-expansion and self-extension) and user reciprocity (user loyalty and user influence) based on service-dominant logic. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 343 smartwatch users in China. Structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping method were applied to test the theoretical hypotheses. The results show that smartwatch use positively affects self-expansion and self-extension, both self-expansion and self-extension positively affect user loyalty and user influence, and smartwatch use affects user loyalty and user influence through self-expansion and self-extension. This research deepens our understanding of the outcomes of smartwatch use, and provides insights for smartwatch manufacturers to create more value from user reciprocity.
... On top of that, it has been observed that perceived similarity predicts attraction between two persons when there is too small information to base any relationship (Aron et al., 2006); perceived similarity may then resemble the incipit to initiate a cognitive overlap between each other, thus indicating potential for a relationship to form (Aron & Aron, 1986;Deutsch & Mackesy, 1985), whilst Shedlosky-Shoemaker et al. (2014) would like to be) and acting as self-guide to further reduce discrepancies between the actual self (i.e., what one is, right now) and the ideal self I have just mentioned above (Higgins, 1987;Shedlosky-Shoemaker et al., 2014): Derrick et al. (2008) proved that this mechanism works for fictional characters as well. Interestingly enough, these findings seems to mirror ...
Contemporary entertainment consumers, fans, and cosplayers tend to gravitate toward fictional characters they perceive as similar, forming parasocial relationships and/or identifying with them, thus buying characters’ goods (e.g., comics, games, merchandise, and so on); sometimes, they also re-communicate fictional characters' image back through fanmade works and cosplaying, improving the overall brand awareness and sales. The “Character Management” (fictional character-based marketing and communication management system) I am proposing is thus designed to induce the benefits related to the fairly high characters' goods purchasing behavior I have observed by entertainment consumers (87.5%), prosumer fans (90%), and cosplayers (80.55%) when they perceive those characters as similar and/or identify with, both in high and also low-budget productions (i.e., indie webcomics). I will then describe the possible consumer to character similarity matching strategies by using the Big Five Inventory for personality traits data collection, analysis, and comparison within the Character Positioning strategies; the making of a Character Portfolio; and finally, the main approaches to consider for a Character Promotion in Character Advertising and Cosplayer-Oriented Social Media Management, whereas the least could potentially bring character goods sales conversion rate up to 10%.
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Ed: in July 27th, 2022, this Thesis has been awarded with the Academic (Honour) Mention by a special committee composed by Professors Boca S. (psychology), Fici A. (sociology), and Caracci M. (marketing).
... Women's IOS moderated the association between partners' personal self-expansion and women's relationship satisfaction; unexpectedly, women were happier in their relationships to the degree that partners experienced an expanded sense of self only when women had lower IOS or a lower sense of shared identity with partners. When individuals believe that a person will like them or that a relationship could develop, they are more attracted to potential partners who have less similar interests as they foresee more opportunities to self-expand through these relationships (e.g., Aron et al., 2006;Sprecher et al., 2015). Therefore, it might be that women in established relationships with lower IOS perceive dissimilarity from their partners and thus see a greater opportunity to self-expand through their relationships leading them to perceive their partners as more attractive, which enhances relationship satisfaction. ...
Individuals in long-distance relationships often feel that living distant from partners is an arrangement they must endure for professional advancement and personal fulfillment but worry that partners may grow apart as they experience growth and change (i.e., personal self-expansion). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how long-distance mixed-sex couples’ (N = 69) maintained and facilitated their relationship satisfaction when partners experienced personal self-expansion. I investigated whether personal self-expansion predicted relationship satisfaction over 6 months, and whether inclusion of other in self (IOS), perceptions of partners’ responses as supportive, and disclosure quality strengthened the association. Hypotheses were largely unsupported. Multilevel models indicated that men’s and women’s personal self-expansion were unrelated to men’s relationship satisfaction regardless of moderators. Women’s IOS weakened the positive association between men’s personal self-expansion and women’s relationship satisfaction, and women’s perception of supportive responses to disclosures of self-expanding experiences strengthened the negative association between women’s personal self-expansion and their relationship satisfaction. The quality of partners’ disclosures of experiences did not moderate the association between partners’ personal self-expansion and women’s relationship satisfaction. A post-hoc analysis indicated that partners’ personal self-expansion more positively predicted women’s relationship satisfaction when women’s personal self-expansion was high but was unrelated when women’s personal self-expansion was low. When men expand alongside women, women might be reassured that the couple is not growing apart but growing together while apart, which might enhance couples’ partnerships.
... Como sugerido por Aron et al. (2006), os consumidores são fundamentalmente motivados a incorporar um agente/objeto focal (por exemplo, uma marca, produto/serviço) em sua autopercepção para expressar a imagem desejada (Malär et al., 2011). ...
O objetivo geral da pesquisa foi identificar a influência da conveniência/tempo, interatividade, compatibilidade, esforço/expectativa no engajamento do aplicativo móvel, bem como se o engajamento do aplicativo móvel influencia com as conexões de marca própria mediada pelo relacionamento/comprometimento com base no modelo estrutural de Kim e Baek. Para isso, desenvolveu-se uma survey por meio da modelagem de equações estruturais baseada em PLS. O questionário foi aplicado com 566 consumidores na região nordeste do Brasil. Como resultado, verificou-se que os construtos das hipóteses H1 a H4 influenciam positivamente no engajamento do aplicativo móvel. Os achados demonstraram também que a H5 é confirmada, ou seja, o engajamento de aplicativos para dispositivos móveis tem efeito indireto com comprometimento do relacionamento, tal qual a hipótese H6 que assevera que o engajamento de aplicativos para dispositivos móveis tem efeito indireto com as conexões de marca própria. Por fim, a hipótese H7 também é confirmada ao inferir que o comprometimento do relacionamento se vincula positivamente com as conexões de marca própria e é mediada pelo engajamento do aplicativo móvel.
... The SBCP stretches students to take on a novel advising role, which challenges them to develop skills that will be useful in their chosen business profession. Moreover, the SBCP incorporates the identity of the client teams (i.e., others) into the identity of the students (i.e., the self) in line with self-expansion theory (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). ...
Grounded in self-expansion theory, the Senior Business Consultant Project addresses the gap between career competencies possessed by business graduates and those expected by employers. The project took place in a virtual environment to mirror future business settings. Fourth-year consulting students worked in teams of two to provide guidance to first-year client students in teams of four to eight on a month-long team project. The project was implemented at a Midwest public university. Analysis of efficacy results suggest senior students found the collaborative project to be novel and exciting, fostering their sense of their own capabilities, other awareness, and career competencies.
... Self-expansion occurs through novel, exciting, challenging, and interesting activities (Aron et al., 2004). The KMA incorporates the identity of instructor (i.e., others) into the identity of the students (i.e., the self) in line with self-expansion theory (Aron et al., 2006). The KMA should be utilized at the beginning of a course to achieve the desired results given that rapid self-expansion occurs at the outset of new relationships and slows over time (Aron et al., 2004). ...
Applying the pedagogy of vulnerability and self-expansion theory, the exercise known as the Know Me Activity (KMA) enhances self-expansion by encouraging connections between students and the instructor. The pedagogy of vulnerability is premised on risking self-disclosure as an act of courage. Self-expansion theory is grounded in personal relationships whereby individuals are motivated for personal growth and identify with others to gain access to their resources. In the context of marketing education, self-expansion stems from enhancing student self-awareness for personal growth as well as perceived vulnerability and relatedness of the instructor to encourage access to expertise. The KMA was conducted at three universities and assessed to determine its usefulness as a self-expansion exercise. Survey results indicate that students found the activity contained self-expansion characteristics, and they recommend it for future use. The results of the pretest and posttest analyses also demonstrated an increase in student self-awareness, perceived instructor vulnerability, and perceived instructor relatedness. Self-expansion activities enhance relationships by design and participating in them can lead to increased student effort and persistence. Marketing educators can, therefore, have confidence in utilizing the KMA as a means for mitigating social isolation and encouraging perseverance.
... However, this could be due to individuals believing that dissimilar others may not like them in return and therefore would ultimately not represent a potential partner who could provide self-expansion opportunities. In one study, for example, preferences for similar others disappeared when a relationship with that other individual was made to seem more likely (Aron et al., 2006). ...
In an integrative review, we examine four theories and models of romantic passion to determine what causes feelings of romantic passion. Although a growing consensus has emerged for the definition of romantic passion, we suggest that this is largely not the case for the source of romantic passion. We outline how four different perspectives—Limerence Theory, the Rate of Change in Intimacy Model, the Self‐Expansion Model, and the Triangular Theory of Love—propose four different potential sources of romantic passion and review empirical support in favor and against each. For each of these perspectives, we additionally outline the predicted trajectory of passion that follows from each theorized source of passion, as well as each perspective's view on the ability for passion to be controlled and up‐regulated. In identifying ways in which these theories and models offer conflicting predictions about the source of romantic passion, this review points to ways in which a more comprehensive model may be developed that integrates across these four perspectives.
... Critically, including partner's characteristics into one's self content means that the representational structure of the self shares elements-or overlaps-with the representational structure of the intimate other, which results in blurred distinction between self and romantic partner [13,20]. In line with this, studies have shown confusion between a partner's and one's own traits, interests, or attitudes [15,20,21; see also [22][23][24][25][26][27]. ...
Previous research has shown that romantic relationships can lead to the cognitive inclusion of a romantic partner into one’s own self-representation, resulting in blurred boundaries between self and intimate other. Recent work suggests that this self-other integration process encompasses the two dimensions of the self–the conceptual and the bodily self. In line with this, it has been proposed that romantic love is associated with cognitive states that blur or reduce the saliency of self-boundaries in the bodily domain. The present study tested this hypothesis by investigating the influence of the self-other integration process in romantic love on passability judgments of door-like apertures, an action-anticipation task that rests on the representation of bodily boundaries. Romantically involved and single participants estimated whether they could pass through apertures of different widths. Moreover, inclusion of romantic partner in the self was assessed using the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. The pattern of correlation and the ratio between participants’ shoulder width and aperture judgments did not differ between romantically involved participants and singles. However, our results revealed that in romantically involved participants, the relationship between individuals’ shoulder width and aperture judgements was moderated by IOS scores. A greater inclusion of romantic partner in the self was associated with a weaker prediction of aperture judgment by participants’ shoulder width. A similar moderating effect of the intensity of romantic feelings (as measured by the passionate love scale) on shoulder width-aperture judgment relationship was found. IOS scores, but not romantic feelings, also moderated aperture judgments made for another individual (third person perspective). Together, these findings are consistent with the view that inclusion of romantic partner in the self triggers cognitive states affecting self-boundaries in the bodily domain.
... Accenture (2018) confirms this trend in its report, wherein 62% of respondents desired a match between their values and a brand's values and were prepared to discard brands whose values were incongruent with their own (Cone 2017). This desire for congruence is best captured by the analogy of human relationships in similarity-attraction theory: That is, people generally prefer to befriend those similar to themselves (Aron et al. 2006;Finkel and Baumeister 2019). Jonsen et al. (2015) further support the importance of values-based positioning; they demonstrate that a focus on human values increases financial returns for companies. ...
Human values-life goals-guide our attitudes and actions. Brands such as Patagonia, TOMS, Warby Parker, Chobani, and Nike successfully position their marketing around human values such as safety, harmony, seeking pleasure, or social welfare. Evidently, consumers attach importance to brands whose values align with their own values. However, the alignment of values (value congruence) and the resulting effects on (re)purchasing behavior are scarcely discussed in the marketing literature. The effects of "traits" and "functional congruence" on purchasing behavior receive considerably more attention. Since human values are conceptually distinct from personality traits, the following question is posed: What is the role of value congruence in the process of consumer brand selection compared with that of trait and functional congruence. An online survey (N=1,182) is conducted to study the effects of these different types of congruence on re-purchase intentions for a range of product categories. Multiple regression and mediation analyses reveal that value congruence is a significant predictor of re-purchase intentions and that it is more important than trait congruence for the categories of services and durables, but not for consumables. This study offers insights into when brand marketing should be aligned with personality traits and human values, respectively.
... As individuals are more likely to pursue a friendship when they believe their chances of a friendship are higher, the negative effects of dissimilarity are ameliorated when chances of friendship are high. Indeed, men who were told that a relationship was likely showed a preference for dissimilar others (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006), and higher perceived potential for friendship was associated with lower perceived deep-level dissimilarity (Cunningham, 2008). ...
Self-expansion theory suggests that people are motivated to broaden the self (Aron & Aron, 1986; Aron & Aron, 1996; Aron, Aron, & Norman, 2001). A primary way of expanding the self is through close relationships, where others become included in the self-concept. A large body of research on self-expansion theory has examined self-expansion in close relationships in the context of romantic dyads. We expand on this research to shed light on a growing line of work that explores self-expansion and intergroup contact. We begin with an overview of self-expansion theory, focusing on the motivational aspect and the cognitive aspect of inclusion of other in the self. We then discuss self-expansion and intergroup contact at the level of friendships and broaden this application to intergroup contact in romantic couples. Further, we discuss individual differences in motivation to self-expand via intergroup relations and examine research on intergroup relations, both as a means of individual self-expansion and as a mechanism for prejudice reduction and improved outgroup attitudes. We also review the literature on how inclusion of other in the self is linked with positive intergroup outcomes. Finally, we suggest next steps to broaden and deepen this important work and discuss implications and connections with work on self-construal.
... In particular, previous research has examined whether similarity would allow for less opportunity for self-concept change. When people were made to think that the possibility of a relationship was uncertain, similarity did positively affect liking (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). However, when a relationship was certain, the effect was reduced. ...
People’s selves are created, altered, and maintained both by their personal experiences in the world, but also through their experiences in close relationships. Thus, the way that people see and define who they are can be shaped and changed due to the relationships in which they find themselves. Although many different types of relationships can impact people’s identities, romantic relationships, as one of the closest relational bonds that adults experience, appear to be especially powerful in shaping the self. This relationship-induced self-change can occur in the initial attraction phase of a relationship, during ongoing relationships, and when relationships end. The goal of the current chapter is to detail various impacts that close relationships, particularly romantic relationships, have on people’s identities during the early and ongoing phases of romantic relationships. The current chapter also seeks to highlight motivating antecedents and moderating factors of these impacts and to discuss remaining questions and directions for future research.
... People vary in their motivations to acquire resources, perspectives, and identities that facilitate the achievement of desired goals (Aron, Aron, & Norman, 2001). Self-expansion can be achieved through meaningful relationships with outgroup members because they offer resources, perspectives, and identities that we do not possess (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006;Wright, Aron, & Tropp, 2002). In Australia and Thailand, those who expected to experience self-expansion through relationships with others reported higher quality contact experiences, a relationship mediated by an increased interest in intergroup contact (Paolini, Wright, Dys-Steenbergen, & Favara, 2016). ...
In a world characterized by divisive rhetoric, heightened xenophobia, and other forms of prejudice, it is increasingly important to find effective ways of promoting functional intergroup relations. Research on the relationship between intergroup contact and individual differences substantially contributes to achieving this goal. We review research considering the role played by individual differences in moderating the relationship between contact and prejudice and predicting contact, but also as an outcome of contact. We then outline potential directions for future research, including identifying underlying mechanisms, examining the role of context at an intergroup and societal level, and considering how positive–negative contact asymmetry may be influenced by individual differences. We then call for a broader range of individual difference and contact outcomes to be explored and encourage utilization of new methodological advances in the study of intergroup contact.
... A key prediction of the self-expansion model is that overlapping representations of self and romantic partner elicit selfother confusion. Consistent with this prediction, studies have shown confusion between partner's and one's own traits (Aron et al., 1991;Mashek et al., 2003), interests, or attitudes (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). For example, Aron et al. (1991) found slowed response times in a "me/not me" decision task (i.e., does the trait describe me?) when romantically involved participants had to evaluate traits that were relevant only for self or partner, compared to shared traits, suggesting blurred self-other boundaries in romantic love (see also Smith, Coats, & Walling, 1999). ...
Romantic love has long intrigued scientists in various disciplines. Social-cognitive research has provided ample evidence for overlapping mental representations of self and romantic partner. This overlap between self and romantic partner would contribute to the experience of love and has been found to be a predictor of relationship quality. Self-partner overlap has been mainly documented at the level of conceptual or narrative self, with studies showing confusion between one’s own and partner’s identity aspects, perspectives, and outcomes. But the self is not restricted to abstract, conceptual representations but also involves body-related representations, which, research has revealed, are linked to social-cognitive processes. In this article, we review the emerging evidence that romantic love involves not only a blurring of conceptual selves but also a reduction of the distinction between self and romantic partner at a bodily level. We discuss the potential function(s) of self-other overlap in romantic relationship at the level of body-related representations and consider possible mechanisms. We conclude with possible future directions to further investigate how romantic love engages embodied self-other representations involved in social interactions.
... For example, a relationship with a person who has different interests offers even greater opportunities for expansion through including that person in the self. Aron, Steele, Kashdan, and Perez (2006) tested this possibility in the context of same-sex friendships and perceived similarities/differences in interests. As predicted, when the likelihood of forming a relationship was unknown, participants preferred similarity. ...
... Selfexpansion implies a central human motive to expand one's ability for goal achievement while the inclusion of close others in the self means that each impacts the other's resources, perspectives and identities to some extent as one's own in a close relationship (Aron & Aron, 1986). This approach views self-expansion as a driving force in developing a positive relationship or forming a close friendship among those who share a similar personality and interests (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006). ...
Fans follow pop-stars as an extension of them and exhibit commitment to participate in pop-star-related activities given existing leisure constraints. This study identified self-expansion as an important characteristic of fans to offset perceived constraints, thus increasing fans’ participation in pop-star’s activities. A conceptual framework was developed to predict pop-star fans’ intention to participate in pop-star’s activities, employing the concepts of self-expansion, commitment, involvement and leisure constraints. Surveys of Korean pop-star fans (n = 393) were analyzed with structural equation modelling. Results revealed that fans’ commitment had a significant impact on leisure activity participation. Furthermore, fans’ inherent motivation for self-expansion was a critical factor in alleviating perceived leisure constraints, which enabled them to participate in leisure events. This study contributes to the literature by offering a new perspective on the role of fans’ psychological characteristics in decreasing leisure constraints. Meaningful recommendations for destination marketers include addressing fans’ unique characteristics and behaviours.
... Most of the support for the self-expansion model of love comes from the studies investigating self-other processing 1 3 in romantic relationships at the level of conceptual or narrative self-representations. Indeed, relying for example on a pictorial measure of interpersonal proximity, the Inclusion of the Other in the Self (IOS) scale (Aron, Aron, & Smollan, 1992), as well as pencil-and-paper self-reports, research has revealed a blurring of the boundaries between the loved one and the self for individual's traits (Aron et al., 1991;Mashek et al., 2003), interests or attitudes (Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006), in others words for conceptual forms of selfrepresentation (Gallagher, 2000). ...
Prior research on romantic relationships suggests that being in love involves a blurring of self–other cognitive boundaries. However, this research has focused so far on conceptual self-representation, related to the individual’s traits or interests. The present study tested the hypothesis that passionate love involves a reduced discrimination between the self and the romantic partner at a bodily level, as indexed by an increased Joint Simon effect (JSE), and we further examined whether this self–other discrimination correlated with the passion felt for the partner. As predicted, we found an increased JSE when participants performed the Joint Simon Task with their romantic partner compared with a friend of the opposite sex. Providing support for the self-expansion model of love (Aron and Aron in Pers Relatsh 3(1):45–58, 1996), this result indicates that romantic relationships blur the boundaries between the self and the romantic partner at a bodily level. Furthermore, the strength of romantic feelings was positively correlated with the magnitude of the JSE when sharing the task with the romantic partner.
... Accenture (2018) confirms this trend in its report, wherein 62% of respondents desired a match between their values and a brand's values and were prepared to discard brands whose values were incongruent with their own (Cone 2017). This desire for congruence is best captured by the analogy of human relationships in similarity-attraction theory: That is, people generally prefer to befriend those similar to themselves (Aron et al. 2006;Finkel and Baumeister 2019). Jonsen et al. (2015) further support the importance of values-based positioning; they demonstrate that a focus on human values increases financial returns for companies. ...
Consumers currently place increasing importance on the values that companies represent. Modern values such as transparency, benevolence to society, sustainability and fairness are becoming more relevant, as noted by many major consulting firms among which are Nielsen (2013), the World Federation of Advertisers (2013) and the Boston Consultancy Group (2013). Modern values are grounded in social, political and economic developments and represent the new values of this era. As a consequence, a company’s value to consumers no longer has to lie solely in its products and services. This new, broader scope of value may include the entire business process and organizational culture, ranging from the management’s integrity to values being found in the company’s contributions to society. Although the role of values in human behaviour has been extensively discussed in the psychology literature since the beginning of the 1900s (e.g. Feather 1995; Hofstede 1980; Olson and Maio 2003; Rokeach 1973; Schwartz 2012), limited attention has been dedicated to values in marketing literature. This was the conclusion of a systematic literature review that we conducted on this subject (Voorn et al. 2016). As a follow-up, we organized an online survey (n = 1109) to empirically investigate the role of values in the brand selection process. In this paper, we report on the relationship between values and brand purchase intentions through the concept of value congruence and in relation to several product categories representing services, durables and consumables. Overall, the results confirm the relevance of value congruence as a predictor of brand purchase, in particular in services and durables. Our study shows that companies can benefit from incorporating values into their marketing strategies, especially those values that are congruent with (higher-order) personal goals, rather than more (instrumental) category-specific values. This offers new marketing perspectives, especially for brands. Brands are – by definition – more than just one product or service, which means they can serve as an umbrella for the incorporation and propagation of new values. However, an important question remains for the brand manager: the extent to which values have an advantage over brand personality traits and functional attributes, since investing in values is not only about communication – it means that an organization needs to embody them in the very fibre of its being; otherwise it may be perceived as ‘green washing’, which can undermine brand trust.
... In addition, whereas most of the prior research examining the use of social relationships for fulfilling self-motives has examined these processes when the self is under threat, the present research explored these processes in the absence of threat. The findings from the current investigation contribute to a small, but growing body of literature examining the use of social relationships for growth strivings (e.g., Aron, Steele, Kashdan, & Perez, 2006;Fitzsimons & Shah, 2008;Jones, Bell, & Aronson, 1972;Sprecher, Treger, Fisher, Hilaire, & Grzybowski, 2015). ...
The present investigation examined how people utilize their social networks when pursuing the ideal self. Participants who spent time with social partners who possessed their desired ideal self characteristic experienced movement toward their ideal self when the partner provided behavioral affirmation (eliciting behaviors consistent with the ideal self), but experienced movement away from their ideal self when the partner provided perceptual affirmation (perceiving them as if they already possessed the desired characteristic). High self-esteem participants were especially likely to seek out social partners of the latter type, who saw them as their ideal selves, but did not offer behavioral assistance. This research highlights the importance of social networks for understanding the conditions in which social partners promote vs. hinder ideal self progress.
... However, similarity would be irrelevant or a disadvantage if a relationship was likely to develop. Aron, Steele, Kashdan, and Perez (2006) tested this possibility in the context of same-sex friendships. Adapting the basic Byrne paradigm, student participants listed fi ve of their central interests. ...
This study examined the mediating effect of international brand advertisement between the corporate global brand value and preference of consumers by using the cause marketing strategy. To examine the proposed model, a questionnaire survey was developed to collect data from 315 male and female consumers who lived in Seoul and Gyeonggi area of Republic of Korea. Finally, 276 datas were used except 39 copies that were unfaithfully answered. The SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 22.0 program are used to analyze the collected data and proved the reason “Why do Consumers focus on global brand marketing?” The results of this study showed that consumers’ perception of the relevance and sustainability of corporate global brand value indicated a high correlation with corporate international brand advertisement. This proved the hierarchical structure of the value-attitude-behavior model (Homer & Kahle, 1988) emphasizing the mediating role of purchasing attitude between consumers’ purchasing value and purchasing decision behavior. Therefore, this study implies that international brand advertisement as a parameter proved to be an important brand relativity factor that regulates brand preference between consumers’ brand value judgment and brand selection.
The team identification–social psychological health model outlines that fans of local sport teams are more likely to experience feelings of social connectedness compared with fans of distant teams. We tested this proposition across two sufficiently powered studies. In both studies, sport fans (Study 1: N = 291, Study 2: N = 430) completed online surveys assessing their levels of identification with a favorite sport team and social connections derived from their fandom for that team. Team localness was operationalized based on team location (Study 1) or responses to survey questions assessing team localness (Study 2). In both studies, the positive association between team identification and social connectedness was not moderated by team localness. This research contributes to the team identification–social psychological health model and our general understanding of fan behavior by showing that the social benefits of being a highly identified sport fan are not limited to fans of local teams.
In this paper we review the self-expansion model in the context of close relationships, focusing primarily on work in the last 20 years, considering throughout variation in our samples across cultures and other demographics—both in existing studies and in potential implications for future research. The self-expansion model has two key principles. The first half of the paper focuses on the motivational principle: The model theorizes that people have a fundamental desire to expand the self—that is, to increase their self-efficacy, perspectives, competence, and resources, and this often occurs through relationships in general. The second half of the paper focuses on the inclusion-of-other-in-the-self principle, in that a major means of self-expansion is through close relationships, when one’s partner’s identities, perspectives, skills, and resources become to some extent “included in the self” as also one’s own. For each principle we briefly describe its foundational research support and then explore the extensive, significant work of the last 20 years substantially expanding and deepening the implications of the model. The majority (although with some interesting exceptions) of studies have fallen short of testing the universal breadth of the model. As we review the research, we consider where the studies were conducted and with what kinds of populations. Where there are data from diverse populations, the overall pattern of results are generally similar. However, there were individual differences found within the populations studied, such as in attachment style, that affected the operation of both principles. Since there are well known differences in the distribution of such individual differences across populations of many types, it is quite likely that while the basic patterns may not differ, future research will show different degrees of operation in different populations.
Sexual desire is associated with romantic relationship satisfaction and maintenance, yet desire for a partner often declines over time. Self-expansion (new experiences that facilitate growth) with a partner boosts desire, but how this occurs is not well-understood. Across three studies—a 21-day daily experience study, a one-month weekly experience study, and an experimental study—we tested whether closeness, and a new construct otherness (seeing a partner in a new light), accounted for the association between self-expansion and desire. Across studies, self-expansion was associated with higher closeness and otherness, and, in turn, higher sexual desire (indirect effect through otherness significant in Studies 1 and 3). The findings provide evidence for the importance of fostering closeness, as well as otherness, in the maintenance of desire.
Cross-group friendship has long been considered a powerful component of positive intergroup relations, largely because cross-group friendship was assumed to be an “optimal” type of intergroup contact (Allport, 1954). While we recognize that cross-group friendship cannot exist in the absence of intergroup contact, we argue that cross-group friendship is something greater than extremely good contact. Cross-group friendship is the manifestation of intergroup cooperation at the individual level of scale. Describing our asymptotic model of intergroup contact (MacInnis & Page-Gould, 2015), we discuss how intergroup contact can improve or worsen prejudice. When contact involves repeated intergroup interactions with the same outgroup member, then a cross-group friendship has the potential to emerge. Drawing on complexity theory, we suggest that cross-group friendships are complex adaptive systems that emerge from repeated intergroup interactions with the same outgroup member. Cross-group friendships exhibit many features of complex adaptive systems, such as being chaotic, dynamic, and self-organizing. We organize our research on cross-group friendship into early, intermediate, and established stages of cross-group friendship development to explore this idea. We conclude that cross-group friendships are complex manifestations of intergroup relations at the individual level.
Everyday creative behaviours seem to be associated with high levels of wellbeing. Yet, the effects of creativity on wellbeing remain largely unknown, notably at a dyadic level, and particularly in the context of romantic relationships. Previous research has studied the effects of creativity on romantic relationships but has been limited by the two main epistemological assumptions that we present in this article. Consequently, very little is known about the effect of a form of creativity that may occur at a dyadic level in a romantic relationship, and that may have implications in the science of human flourishing. In other words, the research field lacks a theoretical framework for studying the effect of creativity in romantic relationships on wellbeing. The present theoretical framework aims to fill this gap by proposing a dyadic dimension of creativity embedded within wellbeing: romantic creativity. Romantic creativity is conceptualised as an observable, quantifiable, yet non-product-hierarchic phenomenon. It is defined as a dyadic process which favours new and meaningful directions in a romantic relationship through dynamics of discovery and self-expansion in one or both members of the dyad. This article describes the epistemological foundations of this theoretical framework and draws on existing research on self-expansion and the neuroscience of wellbeing to hypothesise the processes that might account for the effect of romantic creativity on human flourishing. We also identify two possible ontological perspectives for research on romantic creativity. The present article proposes that romantic creativity might help dyads to flourish through the processes implied in homeodynamics and dyadic self-expansion.
Relationship maintenance encompasses a wide range of activities that partners use to preserve their relationships. Despite the importance of these efforts, considerably more empirical focus has been devoted to starting (i.e. initiation) and ending (i.e. dissolution) relationships than on maintaining them. In this volume, internationally renowned scholars from a variety of disciplines describe diverse sets of relationship maintenance efforts in order to show why some relationships endure, whereas others falter. By focusing on 'what to do' rather than 'what not to do' in relationships, this book paints a more comprehensive picture of the forms, functions, and contexts of relationship maintenance. It is essential reading for scholars and students in psychology, communication, human development and family science, sociology, and couple/marriage and family therapy.
Cambridge Core - Social Psychology - Intimate Relationships across Cultures - by Charles T. Hill
Cambridge Core - Social Psychology - The New Psychology of Love - edited by Robert J. Sternberg
Several mediators of the similarity–liking link were examined in a laboratory study that involved previously unacquainted individuals interacting to become acquainted and that also included a preinteraction manipulation of bogus similarity. In addition to replicating the robust finding of a positive association between similarity and liking in both a bogus stranger paradigm and a social interaction paradigm, we tested the roles of five potential mediators of the similarity–liking association: consensual validation, cognitive evaluation, certainty of being liked, fun and enjoyment, and self-expansion opportunity. The results indicated certainty of being liked to be the strongest mediator prior to a live interaction and fun and enjoyment to be the strongest mediator postinteraction. Consensual validation was also found to be a strong mediator postinteraction.
Although the effectiveness of leader humility has been well documented, our understanding of how leader humility influences followers psychologically is limited. Surpassing a mere leader‐centric understanding of the leader influence process by more fully understanding how leadership behavior shapes followers psychologically has been identified as a critical need by leadership scholars. Drawing on self‐expansion theory, we argue that leader humility triggers followers’ self‐expansion and that this psychological change enhances followers’ self‐efficacy, which in turn contributes to followers’ task performance. We also argue that the relationship between leader humility and followers’ self‐expansion is strengthened when leaders and followers are similar in age and gender. Using a time‐lagged research design with responses from 256 leader‐follower dyads, we found support for our proposed model. We discuss the theoretical implications for our findings and suggest areas for future research.
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In the psychology of human interpersonal attraction, complementarity is a well‐recognized phenomenon, where individuals are attracted to partners with different but complementary traits to their own. Although scholarship in human–brand relations draws heavily from interpersonal attraction theory, preferred techniques for measuring self‐brand congruence tend to capture it in only one form: the similarity configuration, which expresses the extent to which brand traits essentially resemble or mirror a consumer's own. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore, for the first time, the existence of complementarity in self‐brand congruence. From a canonical correlation analysis of survey data in which respondents rated their own personality traits and those of their favorite brand, the existence of both similarity and complementarity configurations is indeed revealed. Based on this, the study then derives a measure of self‐brand congruence that captures both configurations, and tests its predictive power for a range of brand‐related outcomes. The new measure is found to perform well against existing measures of self‐brand congruence based purely on a similarity configuration, particularly for emotionally based brand‐related outcomes.
Understanding how and why consumers engage with mobile apps is critical to the success of ubiquitous mobile marketing. This study proposed and tested a structural model to investigate the antecedents and consequences of mobile app engagement. Results show that time convenience, interactivity, and compatibility positively influenced mobile app engagement, in turn leading to strong relationship commitment and self-brand connections. Furthermore, informational and experiential mobile apps moderated the effects of time convenience, interactivity, and compatibility on mobile app engagement. Theoretical and practical implications for effective app engagement strategies are discussed.
In this chapter we focus on the potential practical applications to optimal relationship development based on thinking and research from the self-expansion model, how its application could help move couples from being dis-satisfied and bored with each other, to happy and passionate with each other. We begin with a basic description of the model and a brief review of some fundamental supporting research including some recent new directions relevant to this chapter’s theme. We then proceed to sections that explore general implications of the model for relationships and specific ways that one can make use of such implications for optimizing self-expansion in relationships (notably shared novel and challenging activities). We then consider (for the first time) applied implications of a new research direction--how individual (non-relational) self-expansion can benefit relationship development. Finally, we conclude with some possible future directions.
This encyclopedia article reviews the major predictors of interpersonal attraction, the desire to be around and form a friendship or romantic relationship with another person. The main predictors include physical attractiveness, desirable personality traits, similarity, familiarity, and reciprocal liking. Other factors that facilitate or limit these effects, as well as situational and extradyadic influences, are also discussed. Finally, findings related to each of these predictors are tied together under the overarching frameworks of social exchange theory and sexual strategies (evolutionary) theory.
People’s reports on their own characteristics are facilitated by matches with their relationship partner’s or in-group’s perceived characteristics and inhibited by mismatches. These results suggest that mental representations of the self, partner, and in-groups overlap. A previously untested implication is that judgmental facilitation or inhibition should operate in the reverse direction as well. The authors find that reports on the characteristics of a relationship partner or in-group are facilitated or inhibited by matches or mismatches with the participant’s own characteristics. The size of the effect for the partner is linearly related to perceived relationship closeness. These findings, in combination with the previous ones, suggest that representations of self, other people, and social groups are constructed on-line rather than being stable, static entities, and the authors advance a connectionist model of this construction process.
On the basis of an interdependence analysis, it is proposed that commitment to a close relationship is associated with cognitive interdependence—a mental state characterized by a pluralistic, collective representation of the self-in-relationship. A cross-sectional survey study and a 2-wave longitudinal study revealed that strong commitment to a romantic relationship is associated with greater spontaneous plural pronoun usage, greater perceived unity of self and partner, and greater reported relationship centrality. Commitment and cognitive interdependence operate in a cycle of mutual influence, such that earlier commitment predicts change over time in cognitive interdependence, and earlier cognitive interdependence predicts change over time in commitment. Links between commitment and cognitive interdependence were weak or nonsignificant for relationships among best friends, suggesting that this phenomenon may be unique to romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved). (from the journal abstract)
This chapter discusses social behavior through self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model. It describes several studies to provide a feel for the kind of research that has been completed in an attempt to explore the predictions of the model. The SEM model is composed of two dynamic processes. Both the reflection process and the comparison process have as component variables the closeness of another and the quality of that other's performance. These two variables interact in affecting self-evaluation but do so in quite opposite ways in each of the processes Model establishes the comprehensiveness of the research and the interactive quality of its predictions. Next, the SEM model is fit into the perspective of related work, including self-theories, social comparison theory, and Cialdini's BIRGing research. The chapter reviews the epistemological status of the model. It discusses some of the implications of the research for a variety of areas in psychology.
A meta-analysis of 205 studies involving 23,702 Ss was conducted to determine whether there are sex differences in self-disclosure. Across these studies, women disclosed slightly more than men (d = .18). This effect size was not homogeneous across studies. Several moderator variables were found. Sex of target and the interaction effect of relationship to target and measure of self-disclosure moderated the effect of sex on self-disclosure. Sex differences in self-disclosure were significantly greater to female and same-sex partners than to opposite-sex or male partners. When the target had a relationship with the discloser (i.e., friend, parent, or spouse), women disclosed more than men regardless of whether self-disclosure was measured by self-report or observation. When the target was a stranger, men reported that they disclosed similarly to women; however, studies using observational measures of self-disclosure found that women disclosed more than men.
Using a newspaper questionnaire, a door-to-door survey, and 3 laboratory experiments, the authors examined a proposed effect of shared participation in novel and arousing activities on experienced relationship quality. The questionnaire and survey studies found predicted correlations of reported shared "exciting" activities and relationship satisfaction plus their predicted mediation by relationship boredom. In all 3 experiments, the authors found predicted greater increases in experienced relationship quality from before to after participating together in a 7-min novel and arousing (vs. a more mundane) task. Comparison with a no-activity control showed the effect was due to the novel-arousing task. The same effect was found on ratings of videotaped discussions before and after the experimental task. Finally, all results remained after controlling for relationship social desirability. Results bear on general issues of boredom and excitement in relationships and the role of such processes in understanding the typical early decline of relationship quality after the honeymoon period.
Early-stage romantic love can induce euphoria, is a cross-cultural phenomenon, and is possibly a developed form of a mammalian drive to pursue preferred mates. It has an important influence on social behaviors that have reproductive and genetic consequences. To determine which reward and motivation systems may be involved, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and studied 10 women and 7 men who were intensely "in love" from 1 to 17 mo. Participants alternately viewed a photograph of their beloved and a photograph of a familiar individual, interspersed with a distraction-attention task. Group activation specific to the beloved under the two control conditions occurred in dopamine-rich areas associated with mammalian reward and motivation, namely the right ventral tegmental area and the right postero-dorsal body and medial caudate nucleus. Activation in the left ventral tegmental area was correlated with facial attractiveness scores. Activation in the right anteromedial caudate was correlated with questionnaire scores that quantified intensity of romantic passion. In the left insula-putamen-globus pallidus, activation correlated with trait affect intensity. The results suggest that romantic love uses subcortical reward and motivation systems to focus on a specific individual, that limbic cortical regions process individual emotion factors, and that there is localization heterogeneity for reward functions in the human brain.
Previous research has identified nonobvious, cognitive indexes of including other in the self (self-other overlap) that differentiate close from nonclose relationships. These indexes include a reaction time measure and a measure focusing on attributional perspective. This study demonstrated for the first time that these cognitive indices differentiated among romantic relationships of varying degrees of closeness, suggesting that self-other overlap is not an either-or phenomenon. Further, the degree of self-other overlap was associated with subjective feelings of closeness, but little if at all with amount and diversity of interaction, suggesting that cognitive self-other overlap is not a direct product of behavioral interaction. Finally, these indexes predicted relationship maintenance and other variables over 3 months and correlated with self-reports of love, suggesting a broad linkage of cognitive self-other overlap to other aspects of relational experience.
Responses to attitude and activity preference surveys were compared for the degrees of real and perceived similarity within male (n = 13) and female (n = 11) friendship pairs. Activity preference similarity was substantially greater than attitudinal similarity, in fact: friends' attitudinal similarity was no greater than strangers'; individuals were able to predict the friend's responses to the activity survey more accurately than to the attitude survey; and activity similarity was a better predictor of liking than was attitudinal similarity. The findings were the same for males and females. These results suggest that the opportunity to engage in mutually pleasurable activities may be a stronger motive in friendship choice and friendship maintenance than is the satisfaction of knowing the friend agrees with you.
Three studies (and a pilot study) were conducted with college students to examine how "insiders" view the importance of various factors (e.g., physical attractiveness, similarity) as reasons for their attraction to a close other. In study 1, participants responded to a list of predictors of attraction for either initial attraction or the maintenance of current attraction (assigned randomly) in a close relationship. In study 2, a network sample of individuals in early stages of becoming close to someone responded to the list of predictors of attraction for their current attraction. In study 3, participants were assigned randomly to respond to the predictors of initial attraction for either a romantic relationship, a same-gender friendship, or an opposite-gender friendship. Across the three studies, four predictors were rated as the most important reasons for attraction: other's warmth and kindness, other's desirable personality, something specific about other, and other's liking for P (reciprocal liking). Differences were found in the importance ratings for some of the predictors as a function of stage of attraction (initial attraction vs. maintenance of attraction), relational context (romantic vs. friendship), and/or gender.
Friends are an integral part of our lives---they sometimes replace family relationships and often form the basis for romantic relationships. This book] examines how friends give meaning to our lives and why we rely so heavily on them. The book is process oriented and research based with each phase of the friendship process documented by empirical research. The result is a conceptual framework that illuminates the fascinating components of how we make friends, how we become close, how we maintain friends, and how friendships deteriorate and dissolve. This book] illustrates . . . the fact that, as a field of study, close relationships is maturing rapidly. This book will be a particular interest to students, practitioners, and researchers in social psychology, sociology, communication, family studies, and social work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)(cover)
Accounts of falling in love were obtained from three samples: (a) lengthy accounts from fifty undergraduates who had fallen in love in the last 8 months; (b) brief accounts from 100 adult nonstudents, which were compared to 100 brief falling-in-friendship accounts from the same population; and (c) questionnaire responses about falling-in-love experiences from 277 undergraduates, which were compared to falling-in-friendship-experience questionnaires from eighty-three similar undergraduates. Content analyses of Study 1 and 2 accounts and Study 3 questionnaire results suggested that falling in love was preceded by frequent reported incidences of discovering other's liked the self and noticing other's desirable characteristics (appearance and personality); moderate incidences of perceived similarity, propinquity and `special falling-in-love processes' (readiness, specific cues, arousal/unusualness, mystery, isolation); and relatively low reported incidences of filling needs and social influence. These patterns contrast with those suggested by the general-attraction and mate-selection literatures. Falling-in-friendship accounts, on the other hand, gave relatively more emphasis to similarity and propinquity, but somewhat less to reciprocal liking, other's desirable characteristics, needs, and the special falling-in-love processes.
The present research explores the relation between similarity, on the one hand, and interpersonal attraction and personality trait inference, on the other. The multidimensionality of these constructs was considered in terms of two general dimensions of first impressions, social and intellectual. In a 2 × 2 design, subjects were asked to form first impressions of a target person who was similar or dissimilar to them in terms of both attitudes and activity preferences. The results indicated that both attitude and activity preference similarity affected judgments of attraction. However, activity similarity was especially predictive of liking judgments, while attitude similarity was especially predictive of respect judgments. This differential effect was even more pronounced for the inference of personality traits. Activity preference similarity especially influenced inferences of socially desirable traits, while attitude similarity especially affected inferences of intellectually desirable traits. The implications of these results for inferential relations in impression formation are discussed, and potential moderators of such relations are considered.
Both personality similarity and complementarity have been hypothesized to underlie mate selection. However, neither hypothesis has received strong and consistent empirical support. This study examined personality matching in couples by taking within-couple similarity as the basic unit of analysis. On the assumptions that individuals seek in another what they value in themselves but that they cannot always get what they want, it was hypothesized (a) that the similarity of partners' self-descriptions is positively related to self-liking, (b) that there is assortative mating for self-liking, (c) that there is significant similarity between subjects' ideal self-descriptions and their perceptions of their partners, and (d) that participants bias their perceptions of their partners in the direction of their ideal self-conceptions. The authors examined and found support for the four hypotheses by analyzing California Q-set ratings provided by both partners of couples, who described themselves, their ideal selves and their partners.
Fifty-three married couples were randomly assigned to engage in activities for 1.5 hours each week for 10 weeks that were self-defined as (a) exciting or (b) pleasant, or couples were in a (c) no-special-activity control group. Pretest and post-test data were obtained on a standard marital satisfaction measure (adjusted for scores on a social desirability index). A planned linear contrast comparing the two activities groups to the control group was not significant and had a small effect size; thus the theory that any kind of activity enhances marital satisfaction was not supported as an explanation for the well-established association of time together and satisfaction. However, the other planned orthogonal contrast found significantly higher satisfaction for the exciting than the pleasant group, a difference that had a moderate effect size. This finding is consistent with views emphasizing habituation as an obstacle to relationship maintenance - for example, Aron & Aron's (1986) prediction from their self-expansion model that sharing stimulating activities will enhance marital satisfaction.
The initiation and subsequent development of what I once immodestly labeled `the attraction paradigm' are described. Though an after-the-fact reconstruction of a given program of research and theory may appear to result from planful, rational, insightful, and even prescient actions, the actual process is more often a combination of multiple personal motives, semi-random input from a wide variety of sources, sheer luck, and semi-delusional tenacity. In any event, some highlights and landmarks of over 35 years of attraction research are summarized. The story includes the initial decision to investigate the effect of attitude similarity-dissimilarity on attraction, the gradual development of the linear function that specifies the relationship between seemingly diverse stimulus events and evaluative responses such as attraction, and the construction of a theoretical model that began with a focus on conditioning but was eventually expanded as `the behaviour sequence', incorporating cognitive constructs in order to deal with such interpersonal complexities as love. As a postscript, I describe our current efforts to place the components of adult attachment patterns within this model in an effort to predict more precisely various aspects of interpersonal relationships.
In a 2 X 2 design, Ss were led to believe that a person with whom they had interacted either liked or disliked them and that his attitudes on several issues were either similar or dissimilar to the Ss' own attitudes. The results indicate that "liking" has a significant effect upon the S's feelings for the other person—regardless of attitude similarity or dissimilarity. The results are discussed in terms of a possible alternative explanation for the bulk of the data showing a positive relationship between attitude similarity and interpersonal attraction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The cognitive significance of being in a close relationship is described in terms of including other in the self (in K. Lewin's [1948] sense of overlapping regions of the life space and in W. James [1890/1948] sense of the self as resources, perspectives, and characteristics). Exp 1 (with 24 college students), adapting W. B. Liebrand's (see record
1985-20117-001) decomposed-game procedures, found less self/other difference in allocations of money to a friend than to a stranger, regardless of whether Ss expected other to know their allocations. Exp 2 (with 20 female undergraduates), adapting C. G. Lord's (see record
1988-00331-001) procedures, found that Ss recalled fewer nouns previously imaged with self or mother than nouns imaged with a nonclose other, suggesting that mother was processed more like self than a stranger. Exp 3 (with 17 married graduate students), adapting self-schema, reaction-time (RT) procedures (e.g., H. Markus; see record
1977-27587-001) found longer latencies when making "me/not me" decisions for traits that were different between self and spouse versus traits that were similar for both, suggesting a self/other confusion with spouse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conducted a sociometric study which examined the friendship network among 270 residents of a city housing project with a high concentration of elderly tenants. The issues of propinquity of residence and similarity of age, race, and sex between chooser and chosen were examined in the context of a theory of social space. An inverse relationship was found between similarity of friends and proximity of residence. Friendships between people of different ages and races were found almost exclusively among those who lived very close to one another. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study repeated the procedures of an earlier study (see
35: 2117) that showed similarity of objectively measured (Edwards Personality Preference Schedule) personality characteristics to be a significant correlate of friendship. Experiment I tested the repeatability of this finding with a similar sample (college freshmen) and the results again supported the similarity principle. Experiment II tested the generalizability of the earlier finding. The procedures were applied to a different population (college seniors), and the results failed to confirm the similarity hypothesis. Personality differences between freshmen and seniors can be viewed as a function of increased social and emotional maturity on the part of seniors (Izard, 1962). Perhaps the more "mature" person has less need to see his personality characteristics reflected in his friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This book explores a single theme—that the emotions, cognitions, and behaviors of love can be understood in terms of a basic motivation to expand the self. It also provides a broad overview of the literature on interpersonal attraction and on the maintenance of close relationships—not only romantic relationships, but friendship, sibling, and parent- child relationships as well. The book's main purpose, however, is to stimulate thinking by offering a new approach to unifying this wealth of data, using the idea of self-expansion, and to illustrate this idea's theoretical and practical implications.
As for the book's authors, we are two psychologists—one social, one clinical; the intended readers are our colleagues in psychology, sociology, marriage and family counseling, communications, psychiatry, ethology, and other fields, who are researching and/or trying to facilitate loving relationships. We also hope that the book will be useful for students in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses studying close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Analyzed lay conceptions of love and commitment from a prototype perspective. In Study 1, Ss listed the features of love and/or commitment. In Study 2, centrality (prototypicality) ratings of these features were obtained. In Study 3, central features were found to be more salient in memory than peripheral features. In Study 4, it was shown that it sounded peculiar to hedge central but not peripheral features. In Study 5, central features of love were expected to be more applicable than peripheral features as relationships increased in love. Similarly for commitment, central features were expected to be more applicable than peripheral features as relationships increased in commitment. In Study 6, violations of central features of love were perceived as contributing to a greater decrease in love than were violations of peripheral features. Similarly, violations of central features of commitment were perceived as contributing to a greater decrease in commitment than were violations of peripheral features. I concluded that the findings across several studies fit best with Kelley's (1983) description of love and commitment as largely overlapping but partially independent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A universal contention in the psychological literature is that attitudinal similarity leads to attraction. I argue that attitudinal similarity does not lead to liking but that dissimilarity does indeed lead to repulsion. Primary attention is given to Byrne's experimental paradigm in which subjects are shown the attitude scale of a stranger that is similar or dissimilar to their own and who are then asked to indicate their attraction to the stranger. Consistently, Byrne and others have found a linear relation between similarity and attraction. Unfortunately, the Byrne paradigm has never included a control condition in which ratings are made in the absence of attitudinal information. Research that used the Byrne paradigm and other procedures that included an appropriate control group is reported, and support is found for a repulsion hypothesis. Byrne's reinforcement model of attraction is also shown not to be supported. Consideration is given to special conditions in which attitudinal similarity does lead to attraction, to the origins of the hypothesis that similarity leads to attraction, and to the theoretical basis for the repulsion effect. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two prospective, longitudinal studies examined the consequences of falling in love, focusing on predictions developed in the context of A. Aron and E. N. Aron's (1986, in press) self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships. In each study a sample with a high expected incidence of falling in love (first- and second-year undergraduates in the fall term) was tested 5 times over 10 weeks. At each testing participants indicated whether they had fallen in love and either made open-ended lists of self-descriptive terms (Study 1;
N = 329) or completed standard self-efficacy and self-esteem measures (Study 2;
N = 529). As predicted, after falling in love there was greater change and increased diversity of self-concept domains (Study 1) and increased self-efficacy and self-esteem (Study 2). Partial correlation analyses suggested that results in both studies were not due to mood change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
• Ideas, like individuals and nations, have histories, and so do the research enterprises that sometimes stem from ideas. The history of the research that is reported in the following pages is mainly one of indebtedness. The 34 men who, week after week, faithfully provided the bricks of information out of which this monograph is constructed were, of course, my principal benefactors. Not one of them ever lapsed, for even a single week, and my debt to them is most inadequately repaid by sending each of them a standard model of this monograph. The writing of a research report, too, has its own history, and in the writing of this one I came to the conclusion that it would be a bare-boned research report, together with only such theoretical connective tissue as in fact inspired the initial planning of the research. The reader will find that I have sometimes oscillated between the reporting of tests of theoretically derived prediction and the presenting of exploratory findings. Insofar as the latter are interesting or significant, I have no apology to make for them--especially as one who has often criticized students who, in their eagerness to find support for cherished hypotheses, ignore serendipidous findings. The phenomena of getting acquainted, like most others which one studies intimately for a period of years, are full of interesting surprises, and none of us is capable of anticipating all of them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
• Ideas, like individuals and nations, have histories, and so do the research enterprises that sometimes stem from ideas. The history of the research that is reported in the following pages is mainly one of indebtedness. The 34 men who, week after week, faithfully provided the bricks of information out of which this monograph is constructed were, of course, my principal benefactors. Not one of them ever lapsed, for even a single week, and my debt to them is most inadequately repaid by sending each of them a standard model of this monograph. The writing of a research report, too, has its own history, and in the writing of this one I came to the conclusion that it would be a bare-boned research report, together with only such theoretical connective tissue as in fact inspired the initial planning of the research. The reader will find that I have sometimes oscillated between the reporting of tests of theoretically derived prediction and the presenting of exploratory findings. Insofar as the latter are interesting or significant, I have no apology to make for them--especially as one who has often criticized students who, in their eagerness to find support for cherished hypotheses, ignore serendipidous findings. The phenomena of getting acquainted, like most others which one studies intimately for a period of years, are full of interesting surprises, and none of us is capable of anticipating all of them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The paradigmatic research of Byrne (1971) on the similarity–attraction relation has been recently challenged by the view that it is the similarity of people's pastime preferences more than the similarity of their attitudes that may better predict both friendship and initial attraction (Werner & Parmelee, 1979). An integration of these two views is proposed in the hypothesis that the personality variable of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) may moderate both the attitude similarity–attraction relation and the activity preference similarity–attraction relation in initial interpersonal attraction. An experiment is reported in which low and high self-monitors formed impressions of four same-gender persons representing each of the crossed combinations of high and low value-based attitude similarity, and high and low activity preference similarity. As predicted, for low self-monitors, attitude similarity influenced initial attraction to the stimulus persons more than did activity perference similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevent to the attitude domain (i.e., judgments of respect and inferences of intellectually desirable personality traits). By contrast, for high self-monitors, activity preference similarity influenced initial attraction more than did attitude similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevant to the activity preference domain (i.e., judgments of liking and inferences of socially desirable personality traits). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
In a laboratory experiment, coeds interacted in two-person groups over a series of brief meetings. After each meeting the subjects were allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation between the experimenter and her partner in which the latter (actually a confederate) evaluated the subject. There were four major experimental conditions: (1) the evaluations were all highly positive; (2) the evaluations were all quite negative; (3) the first few evaluations were negative but gradually became positive; (4) the first few evaluations were positive but gradually became negative.The major results showed that the subjects liked the confederate best when her evaluations moved from negative to positive and least when her evaluations moved from positive to negative. The results were predicted and discussed in terms of a “gain-loss” notion of interpersonal attractiveness.
Analyzed lay conceptions of love and commitment from a prototype perspective. In Study 1, Ss listed the features of love and/or commitment. In Study 2, centrality (prototypicality) ratings of these features were obtained. In Study 3, central features were found to be more salient in memory than peripheral features. In Study 4, it was shown that it sounded peculiar to hedge central but not peripheral features. In Study 5, central features of love were expected to be more applicable than peripheral features as relationships increased in love. Similarly for commitment, central features were expected to be more applicable than peripheral features as relationships increased in commitment. In Study 6, violations of central features of love were perceived as contributing to a greater decrease in love than were violations of peripheral features. Similarly, violations of central features of commitment were perceived as contributing to a greater decrease in commitment than were violations of peripheral features. I concluded that the findings across several studies fit best with Kelley's (1983) description of love and commitment as largely overlapping but partially independent.
Dating couples (N = 59) participated in a longitudinal study of hypotheses derived from interdependence theory. Whether each partner's activity preferences and similarity of preferences, weighted by liking, would predict joint activity participation was examined. Preferences explained participation better than similarity, and own preferences predicted better than other's preferences. We hypothesized that conflict would increase with the strength of preferences but would decrease with similarity. The hypothesis concerning similarity was confirmed for some activities. Participation, similarity, and conflict explained relationship satisfaction and stability, but participation predicted better for men, whereas conflict and similarity predicted better for women. The findings support the theory but suggest that interdependence problems vary by activity type and gender. Three patterns are discussed: turn taking, unresolved competition, and cooperation.
This article explores the cognitive underpinnings of interpersonal closeness in the theoretical context of "including other in the self" and, specifically, the notion of overlap between cognitive representations of self and close others. In each of three studies, participants first rated different traits for self, close others (e.g., romantic partner, best friend), and less close others (e.g., media personalities), followed by a surprise source recognition task (who was each trait rated for?). As predicted, in each study, there were more source confusions between traits rated for self and close others (e.g., a trait rated for self recalled as having been rated for the close other) than between self (or close others) and non-close others. Furthermore, several results suggest that the greater confusions between self and close others are due specifically to interpersonal closeness and not to greater familiarity or similarity with close others
Whole brain correlations: Examining similarity across condi-tions of overall patterns of neural activation in fMRI Real data analysis
- A Aron
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Aron, A., Whitfield, S., & Lichty, W. (in press). Whole brain correlations: Examining similarity across condi-tions of overall patterns of neural activation in fMRI. In S. Sawilowsky (Ed.), Real data analysis. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
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Mashek, D., Aron, A., & Boncimino, M. (2003). Including other in the self as overlap of cognitive elements: Evi-dence from source memory confusions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 382–392.
The acquaintance process Gender differences in intimacy and re-lated behaviors: Context and process Sex differences and similarities in communication: Critical essays and empirical investi-gations of sex and gender in interaction
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Newcomb, T. M. (1961). The acquaintance process. New York: Holt, Rinehart. Reis, H. T. (1998). Gender differences in intimacy and re-lated behaviors: Context and process. In D. J. Canary & K. Dindia (Eds.), Sex differences and similarities in communication: Critical essays and empirical investi-gations of sex and gender in interaction (pp. 203–231).
Novem-ber). What's in a name: Neural correlates related to self and self-relevance
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Lichty, W., Chyou, J., Anderson, A. K., Ghahremanni, D. G., Yamahuchi, Y., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2003, Novem-ber). What's in a name: Neural correlates related to self and self-relevance. Paper presented at Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA.
Sex differences and similarities in communication: Critical essays and empirical investigations of sex and gender in interaction
- H T Reis
Reis, H. T. (1998). Gender differences in intimacy and related behaviors: Context and process. In D. J. Canary &
K. Dindia (Eds.), Sex differences and similarities in
communication: Critical essays and empirical investigations of sex and gender in interaction (pp. 203-231).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Reward, motivation and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love
- A Aron
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Aron, A., Fisher, H., Mashek, D., Strong, G., Li, H., &
Brown, L. (2005). Reward, motivation and emotion
systems associated with early-stage intense romantic
love. Journal of Neurophysiology, 93, 327–337.
Whole brain correlations: Examining similarity across conditions of overall patterns of neural activation in fMRI
- A Aron
- S Whitfield
- W Lichty
Aron, A., Whitfield, S., & Lichty, W. (in press). Whole
brain correlations: Examining similarity across conditions of overall patterns of neural activation in fMRI.
In S. Sawilowsky (Ed.), Real data analysis. Charlotte,
NC: Information Age Publishing.
What's in a name: Neural correlates related to self and self-relevance
- W Lichty
- J Chyou
- A K Anderson
- D G Ghahremanni
- Y Yamahuchi
- J D E Gabrieli
Lichty, W., Chyou, J., Anderson, A. K., Ghahremanni, D.
G., Yamahuchi, Y., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2003, November). What's in a name: Neural correlates related to
self and self-relevance. Paper presented at Society for
Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA.