Continuity between the experimental study of attraction and real-life computer dating.

Abstract

Conducted a computer dating field study as a test of the nonlaboratory generalizability of attraction research. A 50-item questionnaire of attitudes and personality was administered to 420 undergraduates, and 44 male-female pairs were selected on the basis of maximal or minimal similarity of responses. Each couple was introduced, given differential information about the basis for their matching, and asked to spend 30 min. together on a "coke date." Afterward, they returned to the E and were independently assessed on a series of measures. It was found that attraction was significantly related to similarity and to physical attractiveness. Physical attractiveness was also significantly related to ratings of desirability as a date, as a spouse, and to sexual attractiveness. Both similarity and attractiveness were related to the physical proximity of the 2 individuals while they were talking to the E after the date. In a follow-up investigation at the end of the semester, similarity and physical attractiveness were found to predict accurate memory of the date's name, incidence of talking to one another in the interim since the coke date, and desire to date the other person in the future. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)