Evaluating the loved one: The motivational congruency factor¹

Abstract

In descnbmg tlie functional significance of perception m mterpersonal relations, Heider (1958b) pointed out that the perceiver was oriented toward three salient mterpersonal goals, control, evaluation, and communion. "Perception," he mamtamed, "leads to evaluation,"an observation not only strongly confirmed m this writer's personal experience but importantly supported m the work of Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum (1957) This latter mdicates a dominance of the evaluative factor m person perception. In another place Heider outhned what has subsequendy been elaborated upon as cognitive consistency or balance theory m interpersonal perception. "We also want to attam stable and orderly evaluations, we want to find the good and bad distributed m a simple and consistent fashion The codification m terms of positive and negative value is simpler when the positive features are grouped m one umt and the negative ones m another umt. For mstance, there is a tendency to see only the positive traits tn a person we like" (1958a, p 25) 'Heider had earher (1944), m his classic paper, "Social Perception and Phenomenal Causahty," given considerable attention to the "dynamic state of the person" and to his attitudes, emotions, vsoshes, and needs as well, argumg that these strongly influenced perception, evaluation, and attnbution, citmg die earlier work of Murray (1933), Sears (1937), and Maslow (1942 m support of his contention A wealth of research findmgs, mainly laboratory m ongm, have subsequendy confirmed his view and demonstrated the effects of a variety of situationally created dynamic factors m perception and evaluation, thus strongly supporting the idea that temporarily mduced motivational forces may shape evaluative responses Yet, perhaps because the elegant