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Infatuation and Attraction to a Dissimilar Other: Why is Love Blind?
Kimberly K McClanahan1, Joel A Gold1, Ellen Lenney1
1a Department of Psychiatry , Baylor Medical School , USA.
Infatuation increases attraction to dissimilar partners, but this effect disappears when arousal is misattributed. This suggests emotional arousal, not attitude distortion, drives attraction in such cases.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Attraction Research
Background:
- The
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the
Main Methods:
- Experimental manipulation of infatuation and arousal misattribution.
- Comparison of attraction levels between experimental and control groups.
Main Results:
- Infatuation induction significantly increased attraction to an attitudinally dissimilar female confederate.
- Arousal misattribution eliminated the difference in attraction between groups.
- Attraction was linked to favorable evaluation of dissimilar attitudes, not distortion.
Conclusions:
- Positive emotional arousal plays a key role in attraction to dissimilar others during infatuation.
- The "love is blind" phenomenon may involve enhanced evaluation rather than denial of dissimilarities.
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