Similarity versus liking: A clarification

Abstract

It had been found in previous research that both attitude similarity and personal evaluations affect attraction. Aronson and Worchel repeated one of these experiments utilizing a face-to-face situation and found Ss responsive only to personal evaluations, not to attitude similarity. Their failure was attributable to their use of a restricted range of attitude similarity-dissimilarity. Replicating their study with greater attitudinal differentiation, the present investigation indicated that even with face-to-face interaction, personal evaluation and attitude similarity each affect attraction. With weighting coefficients derived in a noninteractive situation, attraction in the face-to-face situation was again found to be a linear function of weighted positive reinforcements. © 1966, Psychonomic Press. All rights reserved.