Exposure, context, and interpersonal attraction.

Abstract

Two experiments were performed to determine the effects of and positive and negative contexts on interpersonal attraction. In both experiments, was manipulated by varying the number of encounters among female subjects; context was varied by having subjects taste either pleasant or noxious solutions during the encounters. In both experiments, attraction varied as a direct function of number of encounters, in negative as well as positive contexts. The implications of these findings for the mere exposure hypothesis and for the context, or association, hypothesis are discussed. A number of recent studies investigated the hypothesis that the repeated of a stimulus object is a sufficient condition for the enhancement of an individual's attraction to that object (Harrison, 1968, 1969; Matlin, 1970; Saegert & Jellison, 1970; Swap, 1970; Zajonc, 1968; Zajonc & Rajecki, 1969; Zajonc, Swap, Harrison, & Roberts, 1971). The basic experimental paradigm in these studies consisted of two phases—an phase during which a number of stimuli, usually 12, are shown varying numbers of times in a random sequence and a subsequent test phase during which the subject makes evaluative ratings of the stimuli previously seen. While these studies have generally found an increase in attractiveness of the object with increasing frequency of exposure, two possible sources of error could cast doubt on their results. One source of error derives from the context within which the experiment takes place. Usually, it is carried out in agreeable surroundings, in a relaxed atmosphere designed to make the subject comfortable, not concealing the fact that the experimenter appreciates the subject's participation. These pleasant surroundings and atmosphere are present throughout every presentation of each stimulus, and it is conceivable that those stimuli that are exposed more frequently may