ATTRACTION

Attraction is defined by Psychology Disctonary.Org is, the natural feeling of being drawn to other individuals and desiring their company; a quality that affects the proximity of relationships–usually reflecting such factors as their liking for each other (2014).

For attraction to occur there are certain attributes and characteristics that first needs to occur.  We all can relate to descriptive words beautiful, easy on the eyes, good looking, and attractive.  Most of us at one point in time have rated potential candidates of relationship by these measures, and measure our attractiveness against theirs.  Social Psychology, by David Myers, presents the idea of the Matching Phenomenon, which describes this process perfectly.  According to Myers, Matching Phenomenon is defined as the tendency for men and women to choose as partners those who are a “good match” in attractiveness and other traits (2012, pg. 405).  When we are looking for a match we tend to usually seek out those who we desire, but at the same time have a good understanding in our own desirability.  This can explain the physical attraction that one may feel towards another, but what happens when the initial attraction becomes trivial and an explanation to long term attraction needs to be answered?

According to All Psych Online, attraction has a reciprocal linking that we tend to like those better who also like us back (2011).  The concept of liking the ones that like us helps create the long term and lasting relationships that may have spurred from an initial attraction.  According to David Myers, experiments have confirmed the idea that we like those who like us.  According to Myers, those told that certain others like or admire them usually feel a reciprocal affection; and one speed-dating experiment suggests when someone likes you especially (2012, pg. 415). One must take in considerations when considering this idea, this ultimately could lead into a self-serving bias if the initial attraction wasn't present and the feeling of being liked by someone is the only contributor to the relationship.      

Personally, I find that the laws of attraction to be confusing, and blinding (at times) to what is real and what is not.  I subjectively believe that attraction is not just merely a seeing and physical linking one object to another.  I believe that attraction is a much deeper relation between two objects that goes further than the physicality of two beings. 

References

Attribution and Attraction in Psychology 101 at AllPsych Online. (2011). Attribution and Attraction in Psychology 101 at AllPsych Online. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/psychology101/attribution_attraction

Myers, D. G. (2012). Chapter 11. In Social Psychology (11th ed., pp. 405-415). New York: McGraw-Hill.

What is ATTRACTION? (2014). Psychology Dictionary. Retrieved from http://psychologydictionary.org/attraction