The attraction-similarity hypothesis among cross-sex friends: Relationship satisfaction, perceived similarities, and self-serving perceptions

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Volumn 24, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 117-138

  Morry, Marian M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Attraction; Cross sex friends; Perceived similarity; Projection; Self enhancement

Indexed keywords

EID: 33846556150     PISSN: 02654075     EISSN: 14603608     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0265407507072615     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. Acitelli, L. K., Kenny, D. A., & Weiner, D. (2001). The importance of similarity and understanding of partners' marital ideals to relationship satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 8, 167-185.
2. Agnew, C. R., Loving, T. J., Le. B., & Goodfriend, W. (2004). Thinking close: Measuring relational closeness as perceived self-other inclusion. In D. J. Mashek & A. Aron (Eds.), Handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 103-115). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
3. Altman, I., & Taylor, D. (1973). Social penetration: The development of interpersonal relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
4. Amodio, D. M., & Showers, C. J. (2005). 'Similarity breeds liking' revisited: The moderating role of commitment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 817-836.
5. Anderson, C., Keltner, D., & John, O. P. (2003). Emotional convergence between people over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1054-1068.
6. Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
7. Ashford, S. (1987). Family matters. In R. Jowell, S. Witherspoon, & L. Brook (Eds.), British social attitudes: The 1987 report (pp. 121-152). Aldershot: Gower.
8. Baxter, L. A., & West, L. (2003). Couple perceptions of their similarities and differences: A dialectical perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 491-514.
9. Bochner, A. P. (1991). On the paradigm that would not die. In J. A. Anderson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook, 14 (pp. 484-491). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
10. Burleson, B. R., & Denton, W. H. (1992). A new look at similarity and attraction in marriage: Similarities in social-cognitive and communication skills as predictors of attraction and satisfaction. Communication Monographs, 59, 268-287.
11. Byrne, D. (1971). The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic Press.
12. Byrne, D. (1997). An overview (and underview) of research and theory within the attraction paradigm. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14, 417-431.
13. Byrne, D., & Blaylock, B. (1963). Similarity and assumed similarity of attitudes between husbands and wives. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 636-640.
14. Byrne, D., Clore, G. I., & Smeaton, G. (1986). The attraction hypothesis: Do similar attitudes affect anything? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1167-1170.
15. Byrne, D., London, O., & Griffitt, W. (1968). The effect of topic importance and attitude similarity-dissimilarity on attraction in the intra-stranger design. Psychonomic Science, 11, 303-304.
16. Byrne, D., & Nelson, D. (1965). Attraction as a linear function of proportion of positive reinforcements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 659-663.
17. Camp, P. L., & Ganong, L. H. (1997). Locus of control and marital satisfaction in long-term marriages. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 78, 624-631.
18. Clore, G. L., & Baldridge, B. (1968). Interpersonal attraction: The role of agreement and topic interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 340-346.
19. Crawford, M. (1977). What is a friend? New Society, 20, 116-117.
20. Cronbach, L. J. (1955). Processes affecting scores on 'understanding of others' and 'assumed similarity'. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 177-193.
21. Derlega, V. J., Metts, S., Petronio, S., & Margulis, S. T. (1993). Self-disclosure. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
22. Endo, Y., Heine, S. J., & Lehman, D. R. (2000). Culture and positive illusions in close relationships: How my relationships are better than yours. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1571-1586.
23. Fehr, B. (1996). Friendship processes. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
24. Feinberg, R. A., Miller, F. G., & Ross, G. A. (1981). Perceived and actual locus of control similarity among friends. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 85-89.
25. Furnham, A., & Henderson, M. (1983). The mote in thy brother's eye, and the beam in thine own: Predicting one's own and others' personality test scores. British Journal of Psychology, 74, 381-389.
26. Gaines, S. O., Jr. (2003). [Review of the book Women and men as friends: Relationships across the lifespan in the 21st century]. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 143-144.
27. Gaines, S. O., Jr., Work, C., Johnson, H., Youn, M. S. P., & Lai, K. (2000). Impact of attachment style and self-monitoring on individuals' responses to accommodative dilemmas across relationship types. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 767-789.
28. Geher, G., Bloodworth, R., Mason, J., Stoaks, C., Downey, H. J., Renstrom, K. L., & Romero, J. F. (2005). Motivational underpinnings of romantic partner perceptions: Psychological and physiological evidence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 255-281.
29. Gonzalez, R., & Griffin, D. (1999). The correlational analysis of dyad-level data in the distinguishable case. Personal Relationships, 6, 449-469.
30. Gorer, G. (1971). Sex and marriage in England today: A study of the views and experiences of the under 45s. London: Nelson.
31. Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.
32. Hendrick, S. S. (1981). Self-disclosure and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 1150-1159.
33. Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 93-98.
34. Hill, C. T., & Stull, D. E. (1981). Sex differences in effects of social and value similarity in same-sex friendships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 488-502.
35. Hoyle, R. H. (1993). Interpersonal attraction in the absence of explicit attitudinal information. Social Cognition, 11, 309-320.
36. Kelley, H. H. (1979). Personal relationships. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
37. Kelley, H. H., & Thibaut, J. W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence. New York: Wiley.
38. Kenny, D. A., & Acitelli, L. K. (2001). Accuracy and bias in the perception of the partner in a close relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 439-448.
39. Kito, M., Morry, M. M., Stevens, K., & Marchylo, A. (2005, January). A test of the attraction-similarity model in dating couples: The psychological and health benefits. Poster presented at the 2005 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
40. Knee, C. R. (1998). Implicit theories of relationships: Assessment and prediction of romantic relationship initiation, coping, and longevity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 360-370.
41. Kwan, V. S. Y., John, O. P., Kenny, D. A., Bond, M. H., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Reconceptualizing individual differences in self-enhancement bias: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Review, 111, 94-110.
42. Lefcourt, H. M. (1981). The construction and development of the multidimensional-multiattributional causality scales. In H. M. Lefcourt (Ed.), Research with the locus of control construct, Vol. 1: Assessment methods (pp. 245-277). New York: Academic Press.
43. Markus, H., Smith, J., & Moreland, R. L. (1985). Role of the self-concept in the social perception of others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1494-1512.
44. Martz, J. M., Verette, J., Arriaga, X. B., Slovik, L. F., Cox, C. L., & Rusbult, C. E. (1998). Positive illusion in close relationships. Personal Relationships, 5, 159-181.
45. Medvene, L. J., Teal, C. R., & Slavich, S. (2000). Including the other in self: Implications for judgments of equity and satisfaction in close relationships. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 396-419.
46. Metts, S., & Cupach, W. R. (1990). The influence of relationship beliefs and problem-solving responses on satisfaction in romantic relationships. Human Communication Research, 17, 170-185.
47. Miller, L. C., Berg, J. H., & Archer, R. L. (1983). Openers: Individuals who elicit intimate self-disclosure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1234-1244.
48. Miller, L. C., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). Reciprocity of self-disclosure at the individual and dyadic levels: A social relations analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 713-719.
49. Miller, P. C., Lefcourt, H. M., Holmes, J. G., Ware, E. E., & Saleh, W. E. (1986). Marital locus of control and marital problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 161-169.
50. Monsour, M. (2002). Women and men as friends: Relationships across the life span in the 21st century. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
51. Monsour, M., Betty, S., & Kurzweil, N. (1993). Levels of perspectives and the perception of intimacy in cross-sex friendships: A balance theory explanation of shared perceptual reality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 529-550.
52. Montoya, R. M., & Horton, R. S. (2004). On the importance of cognitive evaluation as a determinant of interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 696-712.
53. Morry, M. M. (2003). Perceived locus of control and satisfaction in same-sex friendships. Personal Relationships, 10, 495-509.
54. Morry, M. M. (2004, June). A test of the attraction-similarity hypothesis among same-sex friends. Talk presented at the 65th Canadian Psychology Association Annual Convention, St. John's, NF, Canada.
55. Morry, M. M. (2005). Relationship satisfaction as a predictor of similarity ratings: A test of the attraction-similarity hypothesis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 561-584.
56. Morry, M. M., & Harasymchuk, C. (2005). Perceptions of locus of control and satisfaction in friendships: The impact of problem-solving strategies. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 183-206.
57. Morry, M. M., Kito, M., Harasymchuk, C., Nounopolous, A., & De Alwis, U. (2004, July) Lay theories of similarity for eight relationship types. Poster presented at the International Association of Relationship Researchers Conference, Madison, WS.
58. Morry, M. M., Kito, M., & Ortiz, L. (2006, July). How do I see you? Relationship satisfaction and perceived similarity. Talk presented at the International Association of Relationship Researchers Conference, Rethymnon, Crete, Greece.
59. Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., Bellavia, G., Griffin, D. W., & Dolderman, D. (2002). Kindred spirits? The benefits of egocentrism in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 563-681.
60. Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). The self-fulfilling nature of positive illusions in romantic relationships: Love is blind, but prescient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1155-1180.
61. Neff, L. A., & Karney, B. R. (2002). Self-evaluation motives in close relationships: A model of global enhancement and specific verification. In P. Noller & J. A. Feeney (Eds.), Understanding marriage: Developments in the study of couple interaction (pp. 32-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
62. Newcomb, T. M. (1959). Individual systems of orientation. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study of a science: Vol. 3 (pp. 384-422). New York: McGraw-Hill.
63. Newcomb, T. M. (1963). Stabilities underlying changes in interpersonal attraction. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 376-386.
64. O'Meara, J. D. (1989). Cross-sex friendship: Four basic challenges of an ignored relationship. Sex Roles, 21, 525-543.
65. Reis, H. T., & Shaver, P. (1988). Intimacy as an interpersonal process. In S. W. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 367-389). Chichester: John Wiley
66. Rook, K. S. (1998). Investigating positive and negative sides of personal relationship: Through a lens darkly? In B. H. Spitzberg & W. R. Cupach (Eds.), The dark side of close relationships (pp. 369-393). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
67. Rose, S. M. (1985). Same- and cross-sex friendships and the psychology of homosociality. Sex Roles, 12, 63-74.
68. Rusbult, C. E., Johnson, D. J., & Morrow, G. D. (1986a). Determinants and consequences of exit, voice, loyalty and neglect: Responses to dissatisfaction in adult romantic involvements. Human Relations, 39, 45-63.
69. Rusbult, C. E., Johnson, D. J., & Morrow, G. D. (1986b). Impact of couple patterns of problem solving on distress and nondistress in dating relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 744-753.
70. Ruvolo, A. P., & Fabin, L. A. (1999). Two of a kind: Perceptions of own and partner's attachment characteristics. Personal Relationships, 6, 57-79.
71. Sapadin, L. A. (1988). Friendship and gender: Perspectives of professional men and women. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 387-403.
72. Sillars, A. L., & Scott, M. D. (1983). Interpersonal perception between intimates: An integrative review. Human Communication Research, 10, 153-176.
73. Sullins, E. S. (1992). Interpersonal perception between same-sex friends. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 7, 395-414.
74. Sunnafrank, M. (1991). Interpersonal attraction and attitude similarity: A communication-based assessment. In J. A. Anderson (Ed.), Communication yearbook, 14 (pp. 451-483). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
75. Sunnafrank, M. (1992). On debunking the attitude similarity myth. Communication Monographs, 59, 169-179.
76. Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.