JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 16, 3240 (1982)

Predicting Attraction to the Novel Stimulus Person: Affect and Concern

KATHRYN KELLEY

State University of New York at Albany

The prediction of interpersonal attraction to the novel, complex stimulus was accomplished by assessing the affective properties of 12 stimulus descriptions. One group (N = 199) responded to pairs of characterizations on scales of feeling and concern. Each stimulus was categorized with respect to these two dimensions as predictors of attraction. In another group (N = 264). positive feelings and high concern about the stimulus led to greatest attraction. The results illustrate the benefits of prediction rather than postdiction of the liking response.

An assumed inadequacy in reinforcement theory’s ability to account for attraction phenomena has been described in the following way: “It is tempting to postulate a general reward theory . . . but . . . the major problem with such a general theory is the difficulty of establishing an a priori definition of reward in a complex social situation” (Aronson, 1970, p. 145). One of the more perplexing challenges dealt to attraction researchers has involved predicting the effects of the novel stimulus on attraction. The standard manipulation of attitudinal similarity to another person results in predictable effects on liking (e.g., Byrne, 1971). How- ever, describing a stimulus person by using unusual, new, or more com- plex elements sometimes has led to an effort to account for various, surprising results. Having positively valued interpersonal characteristics generally increased likability, but committing a pratfall (Deaux, 1972). engaging in out-of-role behavior while emotionally aroused (Byrne, All- geier, Winslow, & Buckman, 1975). or displaying signs of emotional disturbance (Byrne & Lamberth, 1971; Novak & Lerner, 1968) were observed to mitigate or even negate this relationship under some cir- cumstances. Clore (1976) described a pool of information about a person which contributes to our overall evaluation, and it is this source which apparently needs to be evaluated a priori to determine that response. The present study investigated the possibility of assessing this aspect of

Reprints are available from Kathryn Kelley. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222.

32

0092-6566/82/010032-09$02.00/O Copyright 0 1982 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction m any form reserved.

PREDICTING ATTRACTION TO NOVEL STIMULI 33

novel interpersonal stimuli, with the aim of predicting the effects of these stimuli on attraction.

To accomplish this task on an experimental level, several steps were necessary. Appropriate, complex stimuli were created for the purpose of including elements used in previous research, such as the positive and negative characteristics found in intelligence or politeness on the one hand and clumsiness or repulsiveness on the other. Verbal descriptions of strangers were presented in the form of external fantasy, with the aim of producing measurable affective responses in their readers. A second step attempted to identify a suitable way to measure the affective quality of these stimuli. The results of several studies have suggested two rel- evant components of interpersonal affect, positively or negatively labeled feelings and degree of acceptance or rejection of the stimulus. Manip- ulation of both positive feelings and concern has increased attraction toward normal, emotionally disturbed, and physically handicapped per- sons (Bleda, Bell, & Byrne, 1973; Clore & Jeffery, 1972; Bell, Note 1). Therefore, the affect measurement techniques for this study were written scales of feelings and of concern expressed toward the stimulus person.

The third step consisted of hypothesizing the correspondence between these dimensions of affect and attraction. Variations in the affect as- sociated with a stimulus would theoretically produce concomitant changes in attraction. The strategy was to scale each stimulus with respect to feelings and concern, and then to examine the resulting liking response. Either more positive feelings or greater concern were expected to be associated with greater attraction. A direct comparison of these two dimensions may emphasize the importance of the acceptance-rejection dimension for this dependent variable. Without interest in a stimulus feelings may have less impact than in its presence, as in the case of similarity effect (Byrne, Young, & Griffitt, 1966). In addition. individual differences attributable to the subject’s gender in the affective response to any stimuli were hypothesized to extend to similar findings for at- traction. Few gender differences have been found in interpersonal at- traction responses (Byrne, Lamberth. Mitchell, & Winslow, 1974), but the affect-liking correspondence was expected to provide the basis for such an occurrence.

METHOD

Subjects. Participants in the study were 232 female and 231 male undergraduates enrolled in Introductory Psychology at a large state university. They volunteered to participate in the study as part of a course option.

Design und overview. No subjects participated in both the scaling and attraction portions of the study. Undergraduate volunteers were randomly assigned to participate in either the scaling or the attraction portion of the study, which was presented as an impression formation task. In the scaling segment, each of the 100 female and 99 male subjects was exposed to two novel stimuli and was asked to express his or her feelings on 7-point affect

34 KATHRYN KELLEY

scales about each stimulus after reading it. Twelve novel stimuli were used to form six pairs which were presented in writing, in counterbalanced orders. The design of the scaling portion was therefore a 2 (sex of subject) x 2 (order of stimulus presentation) between- subjects factorial for each of the 12 complex novel stimuli.

Each of the 132 female and 132 male participants in the attraction portion of the study read only one of the I2 novel stimuli. The Interpersonal Judgment Scale (Byrne, 1971) was used to assess attraction toward the person described in the stimulus presentation.

Procedure. Subjects participated in groups of approximately IS. When they arrived for the experiment, they were each handed a packet of experimental materials. Each stimulus. set of instructions. or set of scales was presented on a separate page. The first page of the packet was the following paragraph modified for multiple or opposite sex stimulus persons:

One of the major areas of interest in Psychology is the study of the processes we use in perceiving and knowing the characteristics of other people. Although the identification of these processes is very complex, researchers have found that almost all sources of cues from stimulus people can be used to arrive at impressions of them. For example, the observation of a person at one point in time can yield valuable information to be used later in forming our judgments of that person. Following are an experimenter’s observation of a student as he arrived to par- ticipate in an experiment. Impressions are often determined by our reactions to such observations. As you read this sketch, keep in mind that you will be asked to evaluate your feelings about him as a basis of the impression your form.

To establish a baseline the subjects were then instructed to describe their feelings on nine adjectival dimensions at the start of the experiment. The adjectives used as endpoints in the 7-point scales were taken from the scale of personal feelings used by Bleda et al. (1973) and from a modification of that used by Bell (Note I). The 7-point feelings scales were presented in a bipolar semantic differential format. Items from the feelings scales included: comfortable-uncomfortable, good-bad, low-high, sad-happy, pleasant-unpleasant. and positive-negative. The second (uninvolved-involved), fifth (giving-taking), and eighth (unconcerned-concerned) of the nine scales were part of Bell’s modification. It was ex- pected that the personal feelings scale items might assess mainly the affect aroused by a stimulus, while the remaining three items might describe degree of concern about the stimulus.

Scaling. Each of the subjects participating only in the scaling portion of the study was exposed to two stimuli, which were introduced by:

Following is an experimenter’s observation of a student as he (she) arrived to participate in an experiment. After reading it, you will be asked to describe your feelings concerning the student

The following I2 novel stimulus strangers were identified with a single consonant, and were presented in the pairs P-N, R-C, K-M, L-B. D-T, and F-S in counterbalanced orders to different participants:

P noticed several people watching her as she entered the experimenter’s office and nervously asked how long she would have to wait there. The experimenter replied, “Not long, ” as she looked at P‘s badly scarred, discolored face. P must have encountered many such situations of people trying not to notice that her face was disfigured so extensively that one of her eyes was almost swollen shut.

Stimulus R paralleled the preceding description for a male stimulus person.

PREDICTING ATTRACTION TO NOVEL STIMULI 35

N removed her coat as soon as she reached the lab, and at the experimenter’s suggestion sat down to wait a few minutes until she was called. In the meantime, the experimenter noticed that something had fallen out of N’s coat pocket onto the floor and stooped to pick up what turned out to be a 3 x 4-in. photograph of a well-built, nude man. Ignoring the experimenter’s apologies, N grabbed the photograph and returned it to her pocket.

Stimulus C paralleled the preceding description for a female stimulus person dropping a picture of a nude woman.

Stimuli B and M consisted of the same description applied to a male dropping a picture of a nude man or woman, respectively.

As he arrived at the lab, K mentioned to the experimenter that his appointment was scheduled for 30 min. later, but that he would wait in an outer office until that time. K read dull magazines and silly comic books for the next hour, when he finally asked why he hadn’t been called inside yet like everyone else. K was quite embarassed when told that he had actually scheduled his appointment for the same time the next day and that he would have to return then.

L arrived at the lab carrying five or six large textbooks and several notebooks, and struggling to hold on to everything. Ignoring the suggestion that he place his armload on a chair before obtaining an information sheet, L headed for the experimenter’s desk, lost his balance, and stumbled right into a corner of the desk. L dropped everything he was carrying onto the desk and the experimenter’s lap as he reached for the information sheet.

As D entered the experimental room. he greeted the experimenter with a friendly smile. Then he took a seat and attentively listened to instructions about the experiment.

As T arrived at the laboratory, the experimenter noticed that she was a very attractive girl. T also wore her stylish clothes well and behaved gracefully but not self-consciously as she seated herself in the laboratory.

As F arrived for his experimental session. another person was just leaving the laboratory. F gave a friendly smile to this person, whom he wished to “Have a nice day.”

S arrived at the experimental room right on time. She expressed friendly interest in the experiment and asked intelligent questions about it while it was being explained.

After each stimulus presentation, subjects expressed their feelings about it on the same scale used for their initial feelings.

The scores on the affective response scales ranged from I at the negative end to 7 at the positive end. The sums of scores on the feelings scales, for example. could range from a total of 6 to 42.

Attruction. The 132 female and 132 male subjects participating only in the attraction portion of the study were each exposed to exactly one of the 12 novel stimuli. They expressed their like or dislike of the stimulus person on the Interpersonal Judgment Scale (Byrne, 1971) which includes two 7-point scales combined to yield a composite index of attraction, with a range of 2 to 14 at the positive end.

RESULTS

Scaling. Principal component analyses of the affect scale scores were undertaken for each of the 12 novel stimuli. Ten of the twelve stimuli were described affectively by two dimensions accounting for approxi- mately 80% of the variance in scores. All nine affect items loaded on the first factor, while the three concern items differentiated the second from the first by their opposite loadings, as shown in Table 1. The two remaining stimuli, which had been labeled D and S, were described by the overall affect component containing all nine items and explaining a

36 KATHRYN KELLEY

TABLE 1 COMBINED PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF AFFECTIVE RESPONSE SCORES FOR

10 NOVEL STIMULI

Component Loadings”

Scale Items Component I Component 2

Comfortable-uncomfortable .78 Good-bad .89 High-low .86 Happy-sad .80 Pleasant-unpleasant .87 Positive-negative .87 Involved-uninvolved .58 Giving-taking .52 Concerned-unconcerned .38

.26 .22 .I9 .24 .22 .I2

- 62 - .23 -.78

’ Components 1 and 2 accounted for 61 and 18 percent of the variance, respectively.

comparable 80% of the variance in those scores. Because of these results, subsequent analyses were performed separately on the mean sums of scores on the six feelings and three concern scales.

To examine the effect of order of stimulus presentation and sex of subject 2 x 2 analyses of variance were performed on the two total affect scores for each stimulus. Preliminary analyses of covariance using initial affect ratings as a covariate were shown not to differ from the results to be reported for either the affect or attraction data. Order effects of presentation sequence were observed in three of the stimuli. Further analyses of affect rating for these stimuli will be confined to the data from the first rating of these stimuli, indicated in Table 2. A sex difference in affect ratings appeared in the feelings response to stimulus T, which males rated higher than females (36.40 vs. 31.72; F(1, 31) = 6.53, p < .02).

Attraction. The affect data from the first sample of subjects partici- pating only in the scaling portion were used to categorize the stimuli for the second sample in the attraction part of the study. To classify each novel stimulus according to degree of concern and positive or negative feelings evoked by it, a median split was performed on the means ob- served for each stimulus on sums of the scale responses involved in each of the two affective factors (Table 3). A 2 (positive or negative feelings) x 2 (degree of concern) between-subjects analysis of variance was per- formed on the attraction data. Main effects of both feelings, F(1, 260) = 36.63, p < .OOOOl, and concern, F(1, 260) = 97.48, p < .OOOOl, on attraction and their interaction, F( 1, 260) = 13.80, p < .0005, were observed (Table 4). Only means of attraction to stimuli evoking low

TABL

E 2

SUM

MAR

Y OF

AF

FECT

SC

ORES

FO

R 12

NOV

EL

STIM

ULI

Feel

ings

co

mpo

nent

C

once

rn

com

pone

nt

(rang

e =

6-42

) (ra

nge

= 3-

21)

Stim

ulus

id

entif

icat

ion

Mea

n SD

M

ean -.

.-

Dis

figur

ed

fem

ale

face

(P)

21

.38

6.21

15

.09

Fem

ale

with

nu

de

mal

e pi

ctur

e (N

) 23

.91

8.28

11

.62

Dis

figur

ed

mal

e fa

ce (

R)

20.0

0 7.

82

14.5

2 Fe

mal

e wi

th

nude

fe

mal

e pi

ctur

e (0

20

.81

8.41

13

.29

Male

ar

rived

ea

rly

(K)

19.4

4 7.

68

11.5

0 M

ale

with

nu

de

fem

ale

pict

ure

(W

18.7

2 6.

58

10.5

0

Male

dr

oppe

d bo

oks

(L)

23.5

8 7.

75

12.3

3

Male

wi

th

nude

m

ale

pict

ure

(B)

22.1

0 7.

13

12.1

5 M

ale

smile

d (II

)” 35

.11

6.23

17

.03

Inte

lligen

t fe

mal

e (S

) 34

.06

6.11

15

.94

Frie

ndly

m

ale

(F)

37.9

1 3.

39

16.2

4

Attra

ctiv

e fe

mal

e (T

) 35

.88

4.87

16

.50

” D

ata

are

pres

ente

d fo

r th

e st

imul

us

only

wh

en

it ap

pear

ed

first

in

the

sequ

ence

of

pai

rs.

SD

n 3

.__-

5

2.89

33

z

3.79

33

b

3.22

32

=t

3.

17

32

2 3.

52

35

3.22

35

3

3.65

34

5

2.16

34

3.

55

36

3 3.

04

36

2 2.

85

35

2

3.40

35

E Y

38 KATHRYN KELLEY

TABLE 3 DIFFERENTIATION OF AFFECTIVE RESFQNSES TO NOVEL STIMULUS PERSONS ON THE BASES OF

POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE FEELINGS AND HIGH OR Low CONCERN

I

Low Concern

Negative Male with nude Feelings female picture (M”)

Male with nude male picture (B)

Female with nude

female picture (C) Male arrived one day

early for experiment (K)

Attraction toward

stimulus

7.67

6.25

Attraction toward

High Concern stimulus !- Disfigured female 9.18 face (P)

Disfigured male 8.22 face (R)

7.10

1.40

Positive Male dropped books and Feelings stumbled (L)

Female with nude male picture (Nl

7.05

7.95

Male smiled and paid II.16 attention (D)

Attractive female (7I II.06

Friendly male (fl II.48 Intelligent female tS) I I .54

asked questions

” Stimulus identification.

concern were not differentiated from each other (Newman-Keuls, p > .05). Stimuli which evoked both positive feelings and concern were the most attractive. The two factors and their interaction accounted for a total of 36% of the variance in attraction responses. The concern factor accounted for 24%, feelings 9%, and their interaction, 3% of the variance in this dependent variable.

DISCUSSION

The two affective factors, feelings and concern, accounted for a rea- sonably high portion (36%) of the variance in attraction scores with

TABLE 4 MEANS OF ATTRACTION TOWARD NOVEL STIMULUS PERSONS EVOKING POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

FEELINGS AND HIGH OR Low CONCERN

Degree of Concern

Feelings Low High

Negative 6.93,, 8.63,

Positive 7.58,, 11.32,

Note. Scores may range from 2 (low attraction) to 14 (high attraction). Means with different subscripts differ from one another by Newman-Keuls. p < .05.

PREDICTING ATTRACTION TO NOVEL STIMULI 39

respect to the 12 novel stimuli. The complex, external fantasies which elicited the most positive feelings and concern in one group of participants were the most attractive to another group. Major affective factors un- derlying the attraction response are thus identifiable and directly measurable.

Concern about the stimuli emerged as the dominant determinant of liking in this study, accounting for more than twice its variance compared to the traditional feelings component. Of course, if all the stimuli had evoked only one level of concern, then this result would not have ap- peared and the feelings factor may have assumed the explanatory role. The intercorrelation and interaction of the two affective factors indicate their partial independence. The dominance of the concern element in this and other studies suggests that it may provide an important part of the answer to recurring questions about the predicting of attraction to novel stimuli (Clore & Kerber, Note 2).

Sex differences in the attraction responses made in this study did not appear, yet they did occur in one set of affect ratings for one stimulus. Males had more pleasant feelings than females about a physically at- tractive female. Given the general lack of success in predicting the rare differences in attraction between males and females toward various stim- uli, it is not surprising that one more such instance has occurred.

Lessons from the failures and successes of the inductive method of reasoning will not often lead to generally useful conceptualization about the factors determining a dependent variable such as attraction. For example, providing one more interesting variation on the theme of the similarity-attraction effect (e.g., Krulewitz & Nash, 1980) does inform us about the interpersonal responses of males toward male homosexuals. But as the present data show, even such seemingly special cases of complex stimuli become amenable to predictive analysis that yields a general rule applicable to several sorts of stimuli. Thus, it is suggested that the preliminary scaling of complex stimuli on two affective dimen- sions provides an effective way to go beyond intuitive predictions about the way that novel stimulus conditions will influence attraction responses.

Additional support for these interpretations was provided by the results of a pilot study, in which 24 subjects of both genders rated all stimuli with respect to both affect and attraction. The overall correlations be- tween attraction and affect were + .56 (p < .Ol) for concern and + .43 (p < .05) for feelings. Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum’s (1957) classic differentiation of affect dimensions is compatible with these findings which identified the feeling and evaluate components of the novel stimuli. Perhaps a perfect mapping of their affect dimensions will occur as future studies unravel the meanings of other novel stimuli.

One can compare, then, the relative utility of three major approaches to predicting attraction in the complex situation. When the effects of a

40 KATHRYN KELLEY

given stimulus on liking are observed and then explained after the fact of measurement, as in Aronson’s technique (1970), postdiction of the attraction response can easily occur. Byrne and Lamberth (1971) used an alternative method of determining the relative affective weights in- volved in the attraction toward a particular stimulus. Neither of these strategies provides a way to predict the effect of novel, complex stimuli in advance of the attraction measurement. The obvious advantages of the predictive technique over the others, shown in the results of this research, suggest that it should be utilized in future studies of complex, novel stimuli.

REFERENCES

Aronson, E. Some antecedents of interpersonal attraction. In W. J. Arnold and D. Levine tEds.1. Nebraska Symposium on Motivution 1969. Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1970. Pp. 143-173.

Bleda, P. R.. Bell, P. A., & Byrne. D. Prior induced affect and sex differences in attraction. Memory & Cognition. 1973. 1, 435-438.

Byrne, D. The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic Press, 1971. Byrne, D.. Allgier, A. R., Winslow, L., & Buckman, J. The situational facilitation of

interpersonal attraction: A three-factor hypothesis. Journal of Applied Social Psy- chology, 1975, 5, l-15.

Byrne, D.. & Lamberth. J. Cognitive and reinforcement theories as complementary ap- proaches to the study of attraction. In B. I. Murstein (Ed.). Theories ofuttruction

and love. New York: Springer, 1971. Byrne, D.. Lamberth. J.. Mitchell, H. E.. & Winslow, L. Sex differences in attraction:

Response to the needs of the opposite sex. Journal of Socictl und Economic Studies, 1974. 2, 79-86.

Byrne, D., Young, R. K., & Griffitt. W. The reinforcement properties of attitude state- ments. Journal of Experimental Resenrch in Personality, 1966, 1, 266-276.

Clore, G. L. Reinforcement and affect in attraction. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Theoq and

practice in interpersonal attraction. London: Academic Press, 1976. Clore. G. L.. & Jeffery, K. McM. Emotional role playing, attitude change, and attraction

toward a disabled person. Journal qf Personality and Sociul Psychology. 1972, 23, 105-111.

Deaux, K. To err is humanizing: But sex makes a difference. Representative Reseurch

in Social Psychology, 1972. 3, 20-28. Krulewitz, J. G., & Nash, J. E. Effects of sex role attitudes and similarity on men’s

rejection of male homosexuals. Journal of Personulity and Social Psycholgoy. 1980. 38, 67-74.

Novak, D. W., & Lerner, M. J. Rejection as a consequence of perceived similarity. Journal

of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 9, 147-152. Osgood, C. E., Suci. G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. The measurement of meaning. Urbana:

Univ. of Illinois Press. 1957.

REFERENCE NOTES

I. Bell, P. A. Improving reactions to the emotionally disturbed: Effects of affective state and social concern. Unpublished manuscript, Colorado State University, 1978.

2. Clore. G. L.. & Kerber. K. W. Affective schemata in the person perception cycle. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois. 1980.