Affiliation of opposite-sexed strangers |
| |
Authors: | Bryant Bernhardt Crouse Albert Mehrabian |
| |
Institution: | University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| |
Abstract: | This study examined the effects of a subject's sex and affiliative tendency and the other's physical attractiveness on the cross-sexual interaction of strangers. Although previous studies showed that one's interest in an opposite-sexed other is a function of the other's physical attractiveness, the actual behavior of individuals in the presence of attractive and unattractive others had not been systematically examined. Subjects were individually placed in a 5-min waiting situation with a physically attractive or unattractive target of the opposite sex who behaved in a standard way. Conversations were recorded and subsequently analyzed; subjects also provided their impressions of the targets following the waiting period. Physical attractiveness of the opposite-sexed other did not significantly influence the subject's verbal affiliative behavior, but the combined influence of a subject's sex and affiliative tendency was predictive of cross-sexual affiliation. Although physical attractiveness did not account for differences in affiliative behavior, subjects preferred attractive over unattractive targets as potential dates or marriage partners. |
| |
Keywords: | Reprint requests should be sent to Albert Mehrabian Department of Psychology University of California Los Angeles CA 90024 |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |