PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS, ATTITUDE SIMILARITY, AND LENGTH OF ACQUAINTANCE AS CONTRIBUTORS TO INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Tenth and twelfth grade males and females who knew each other judged, within grade levels, their classmates on physical attractiveness (PA), perceived attitude similarity (PAS), and interpersonal attraction (IA). In addition, a measure of actual attitude similarity (AAS) was computed for each pair of subjects. Regression analyses supported the hypotheses that PA and PAS are positively correlated. Little support was found for the hypothesis that AAS and PAS are correlated. The results of the present naturalistic study also conflict with results obtained in laboratory studies which have found AAS to be correlated with IA.