A study of the arousal model of interpersonal intimacy

Abstract

This study was undertaken to test Patterson's arousal model of nonverbal intimacy. The model proposes that the evaluation of the individual's state of arousal determines the reciproca-tion or compensation of nonverbal intimacy. Sixty-four male students served as subjects and two male students served as confederates. The confederate attempted to induce in the subject a more or less favorable feeling for him by agreeing or disagreeing with the subject's view on an issue. Subsequently, the confederate increased or maintained the same level of nonverbal im-mediacy as he did in an earlier session. Hypotheses were as follows: (1) An increase in the confederate's immediacy would effect an increase in the subjects' arousal which, in turn, (2) would lead to either reciprocal or compensatory nonverbal adjustments by subjects, depending on whether they viewed the confederate more or less favorably, respectively. The results provide some limited support for both hypothesis 1 and 2.