Environmental influences on attraction: Effects of heat, attitude similarity, and personal evaluations

Abstract

Eighty undergraduate males received either a positive or a negative personal evaluation from an attitudinally similar or dissimilar confederate. Experimental sessions were conducted under either comfortably cool (73°F) or uncomfortably hot (92°F) environmental conditions. Attraction toward the confederate was primarily influenced by the personal evaluation and attitude similarity variables. Although high ambient temperatures markedly decreased Ss’ affective state, exposure to heat did not consistently lower their attraction toward the confederate. Several procedural differences are proposed to account for the inconsistent influence of heat on attraction reported in the present and previous research. © 1974, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.