The Journal of Social Psychology Differential Effects of Reciprocity and Attitude Similarity Across Long-Versus Short-Term Mating Contexts Andrew T Lehr, Glenn Geher The Journal of Social Psychology Washington: Aug 2006. Vol. 146, Iss. 4; pg. 423, 17 pgs

Reciprocity The tendency in people to become more attracted to those whom they believe are attracted to them.

What really attracts people together??

 Attitude Similarity OR  Reciprocity

Short v. Long- Mating Short-Term = Individuals want to mate but not develop LT bonds Long-Term = Individuals want to develop LT bonds

Hypotheses For two liking measures, including a likability measure and a behavior-intention measure, the participants who experience reciprocity in liking will score higher on multiple liking-relevant outcome measures than participants who don’t experience such reciprocity. 2. Participants who experience both reciprocal liking with and attitudes similar to those of a bogus stranger will rate a bogus stranger relatively positively across measures of likability.

Hypotheses cont… 3. Attitude similarity will be predictive of likability scores more under conditions of LT mating contexts than under those of ST mating contexts. 4. Reciprocity will be predictive of likability equally for LT liking and for ST liking.

Independent Variables Attitude Similarity 2 Levels- high or low 2. Reciprocity - 2 levels- high or low

Independent Variables cont… Theoretical Construct: Attitude Similarity & Reciprocity Operational Definition: Attitude Similarity- vignette Reciprocity- same vignette

Dependent Variable Score given by participants relevant to Short Term and Long Term relationships Theoretical Construct: likeability Operational Definition: rating

Who 24 male (18-23 yrs. old) & 32 female (18-50 yrs. old) undergraduate and graduate students

What Social Attitudes Survey & Character Evaluation Participants assigned to one of the four groups (high reciprocity, high attitude similarity, etc…)

2x2 ANOVA for each of the 4 dependent variables

Results No Significance

Results No Significance

Reciprocity & LT liking Results Reciprocity & LT liking

Reciprocity & ST liking Results Reciprocity & ST liking

Conclusion - liking in both LT and ST mating contexts Reciprocity strongly affected - general liking scores - liking in both LT and ST mating contexts Attitude Similarity & Reciprocity did not yield differences in LT and ST contexts Attitude Similarity is subordinate to reciprocity in the development of intimate relationships??

What I Would Change - The age range of males and females - Vary the cultural background of the participants more