Determinants of the Level of Attraction to Others
People are attracted to others depending on their perceptions. People are sexually attracted normally to people that have appealing perceptions to their eyes (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2013). Some of the factors that cause people to be sexually attracted to others include similarity, proximity, physical attractiveness as well as reciprocity. The first impression that an individual gets about a person determines the level of attraction between them. Physical attractiveness bears the largest contribution in matters of attraction between people. Physical attractiveness is determined by outward looks that people have. For instance, a neat person will be perceived as more attractive than a person who is shaggy. Neatness includes the dressing manner that a person chooses. For instance, during the initial stages of love relationships, people are more attracted to those they perceive to be physically attractive. It is difficult for people that are far from one another to develop some attraction to each other. This could be explained using the exposure that proximity has on people that are close to each other.
If one encounters a person more frequently, he or she is more attracted to them than when they encounter them on rare occasions. The level of attraction a person has to another depends also on the cultural attributes that one holds and believes in. In this case, people who embrace the same culture will be attracted to each other more that those who share different cultures. This is because people value reciprocity as well as similarity in their relationships. People will be attracted to people whom they share the same race, personality, values, attitude, social class, race as well as religion more. In relation to reciprocity, these factors will also determine the level at which people will develop some liking attitude towards them. It becomes easy for people who share the same culture to reciprocate genres of their cultural attributes. Therefore, they will develop more liking towards each other compared to those that share different cultural background. Biological factors as well are main determinants of the level at which people are attracted to one another. In this case, I am attracted to people who have high competence levels more than those with low competence levels. The skin color also affects my level of attraction to others. My attraction to those that have light skins is more compared to that with dark skins.
In addition to biological factors, specific cultural factors have affected my level of attraction to others. I am attracted to people close to my age since I am able to socialize with them freely compared to those that we have wide age gaps. Without socialization, it becomes difficult to develop some attraction towards another person. Race is another factor that makes me to get attracted to the white more. For instance, at school I am attracted to those that are serious in their studies more and have been scoring high marks. This has caused me to be choosy in the people I hold discussions with. When we need to hold discussions, I join those students that have score high marks. In socializing, I am freer with the whites, thus being attracted to them. I am also attracted to those with a close age to mine, which is easy to tell by looking at a person’s character as well as his or her way of doing things.
Reference
Cacioppo, J. T., & Freberg, L. (2013). Discovering psychology: The science of mind. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Wadsworth.