Cross-lagged panel analysis of the relation between attraction and perceived similarity

Cross-lagged panel analyses of the relation between attraction and perceived similarity to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford were reported. The analyses were based on a panel of U.S. adults for 1972–1974–1976. The cross-lagged analysis involving Nixon was supportive of the causal flow being predominantly from attraction to perceived similarity. This conclusion was sustained in multivariate analysis. For ford, the cross-lagged correlations between attraction and perceived similarity were not significantly different. However, multivariate analyses suggested that the effect of attraction to Ford on perceived similarity to him remained significant even when numerous control variables were used. In contrast, the effect of perceived similarity to Ford on attraction to him was reduced to nonsignificance when controls were entered in regression analyses.