THE ORIGINS OF ATTRACTION
A presentation by Soraya
McGinley
WHAT IS ATTRACTION ANYWAY?
-A natural feeling of being drawn to other individuals and desiring their company
(psychology dictionary)
…But where does it come from????????
ORIGINS AT THE BLOA
-Linking to the principal that all behaviour has a physiological basis, this LOA examines the
roles that biological evolution, brain acitivity, hormones and neurotransmitters (as examples)
play in producing feelings of attraction
-Marazziti et al. (1999) investigated the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Perhaps it can
explain the continues focus of the beloved? They studied 60 individuals: 20 men and women
who had fallen in love in the last six months, 20 whom suffered untreated OCD and 20 healthy
individuals whom were not in love. They found that serotonin levels in the new lovers were
equivalent to the low serotonin levels of the people with OCD. One criticism was that the study
examine serotonin in the blood not the brain and therefor makes it difficult to document the
exact role of serotonin in romantic love. However, the study is acknowledged for establishing a
possible connection between romantic love and low levels of serotonin in the blood.
ORIGINS AT THE CLOA
-At the CLOA researchers look at how perception and social cognition contribute to levels of
attraction
-A common belief in this LOA is that the extent to which one is attracted to another is dependant on
how similar to themselves the one perceives the other to be
-Markey et al. (2007) investigated the extent to which similarity is in fact a factor in the way
people choose partners. Using questionaries, researchers asked a large sample of young people
to describe psychological characteristics, values and attitudes of their ideal romantic partner and
then asked to describe themselves. Researchers found much similarity between the two. A follow up
study asked 106 young couples whom had been together for a year o fill a questionnaire
regarding their partners and their own characteristics. Results were congruent with the first study.
The study confirmed that people want partners similar to themselves, but whether they actual seek
out such partners and find them may not always be congruent with this want… Use of questionaries
brings into question the reliability of the study however the study did use a large number of
participants which counterbalances this issue. The sample consisted of only young Americans and so
results cannot be generalised unless similar research in other cultures confirms the same results.
ORIGINS AT THE SCLOA
-The SCLOA looks at how social and cultural behaviours can influence levels of
attraction. These include interactions between individuals and cultural norms
-Zajonc et al. (1971) investigated the mere exposure effect which basically argues
that the more we are exposed to an individual, the more we are likely to be
attracted to them (not necessarily romantically). They tested this by asking
participants to evaluate photos of strangers. Some photos were show repeatedly
during the experiment. Photos of strangers that were shown more frequently were
found to be rated more positively.
HOW DO THE LOA’S INTERACT TO PROVIDE A
SOUND EXPLANATION?
-Each of the LOA’s provide a different approach to the topic of attraction. The BLOA looks at
more ‘universal’ explanations that exceed social and cultural boundaries. It pin points how
physiological process can contribute to feelings of attraction. The CLOA builds on this by
examining the role that the cognitive process of perception plays in levels of attraction. Finally
the SCLOA looks at social interactions and cultural norms and the role they play. In
combination, they provide a very holistic approach of explaining the origin of attraction
-In some ways it seems the BLOA is most convincing as it looks at processes which exceed
socially constructed boundaries. However it is a reductionist approach and in isolation only
provides general ideas, which can be limiting as attraction does differ within each individual.
Follow up explanations form the other two LOAs can cater to these differences by examining
how individual perception, culture, age and gender etc. also play a role.
WORKS CITED
"What Is ATTRACTION? Definition of ATTRACTION (Psychology Dictionary)."
Psychology Dictionary. Ed. Psychology Dictionary. Free Online Psychology Dictionary,
2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <http://psychologydictionary.org/attraction/>.