Directions: What draws you to other people? According to the text, “a
variety of qualities in a new acquaintance can spark the forces of
interpersonal attraction. Research suggests four especially powerful factors: personal
appearance, proximity, similarity, and complementarity” (p. 283).
1. Identify two of your closest friends (i.e. your
most rewarding friendships).
2. Analyze each friendship using concepts from “Attraction Theory”
(please see list above), by addressing the following questions:
o Briefly describe the friendship (i.e. Depth of friendship, how
long have you been friends, what do you do together, etc.)
o Based on attraction theory, what reasons contributed to the
formation of the friendship?
o Based on attraction theory, what reasons currently contribute to
the maintenance of the friendship?
o Compare the two. Have the reasons for your interconnection
changed or stayed the same? Why or why not?
3. Each analysis should be about one paragraph. (Please see below
for an example.)
EXAMPLE: Michelle is one of my best friends. We have
had an interpersonal connection for the past 14 years. We met at the
local television station when I got hired as a reporter and a few months later
she was hired as the night anchor. She now lives in Southern California, but we
talk/text/FaceTime/videotext/Facebook at least two to three times a week. Based
on attraction theory, we first developed our friendship based on proximity and similarity. We worked very closely together in the
news business, spending many hours researching, writing, editing and reporting
stories; this exemplifies “attraction via proximity.” As well, as we got to know each other
over our mini cubicle walls, we discovered that we shared many experiences and
interests. For example, we both drove the same model Toyota Tercel (mine was
red and hers was green); and we lamented over the fact that we lived in Chico
and drove a car without air conditioning! In addition, we both began our
broadcast journalism careers in small Idaho news stations. While I worked
at the CBS station in Twin Falls, Idaho, she was working at its sister station
in Idaho Falls. As well, we both loved watching movies, singing karaoke and
laughing. This exemplifies “attraction via similarity.” Currently, we no longer share proximity because
I live in Northern California and she lives in Southern California. We still
connect because of similarity, but in a different way; currently, we are both
our of the news business and are college professors. So we love sharing
new teaching ideas and funny student stories! In addition, our relationship has
evolved into an appreciation for “complementarity.” I am a married mom of two, and she is a single
woman looking for love. We confide in each other our triumphs and struggles in
life and because of our dichotomous lifestyles, have different perspectives to
bring to our friendship.