Self-esteem, Similarity, Liking and Helping

Abstract

112 Female students both liked and helped similar more than dissimilar partners. Liking for similar partners correlated positively with subject's self-esteem, but no such relationship existed in the case of a dissimilar partner, or between liking and helping.Invoking the Pavlovian principle of stimulus generalization (Pavlov, 1927), Reykowski (1975) suggests that when we perceive another person as similar to ourself, we may transpose our orientation toward ourself to that other person.Since people usually are favorably disposed toward themselves, this would explain the numerous studies reporting a positive relationship between perceived self-partner similarity and interpersonal attraction (for a review see, e.g., Lindzey and Byrne, 1969). However, this reasoning would also imply an interaction of this relationship with self-esteem; namely a positive correlation between self-esteem and interpersonal attraction in the case of a similar partner and lack of such a correlation in the case of a dissimilar one (no similarity, so no generalization).Two previous studies provide little support for such an interaction. Griffitt (1966) found no interaction at all, while Hendrick and Page (1970) reported that self-esteem affects only attraction toward a dissimilar partner, who was most liked by those with medium self-esteem. However, both of these studies may have involved insensitive or inappropriate measures of self-esteem, (Hendrick & Page, 1970;Karylowski, 1975).In addition to self-esteem, another form of self-orientation is expressed in the tendency to satisfy one's own needs (behavioral aspect of positive self-orientation). This form should also generalize to persons perceived as similar to self. Information that a self-similar person is in an unfavorable situation can be expected to produce the same kind of motivational tension as such information regarding oneself. Whenever the individual feels in a position to improve his partner's situation, this tension ought to be transformed into altruistic motivation. The intensity of partner-oriented altruistic motivation should thus be related to perceived self-partner similarity--it should be stronger in the case of a similar partner and weaker in the case of a dissimilar one. Method.The basic hypotheses, then, were that self-esteem and interpersonal attraction should be positively related for similar others, but show no correlation for dissimilar others, and that people should be willing to work harder to help similar than dissimilar others. To test these expectations 122 Polish high-school girls aged 17-19 participated in an experiment consisting of two sessions. In the first, subjects completed the following paper-and-pencil forms: a.Activity Modes Inventory (AMI). Subjects were asked to pick their 10 most and their 10 least preferred activities (e.g., walking, cooking) from a list of 75. b.Trait Description Questionnaire (TDQ). Subjects evaluated first themselves, then an at Stockholm University Library on August 24, 2015 psp.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Liberals and conservatives are (geographically) dividing

“…As discussed above, ideological and moral similarity appears to be more appealing than mere surface-level similarity (see also Haidt, Rosenberg, & Hom, 2003). So, an influence on migration may be seeking environments populated by ideologically-similar others (Byrne, Clore, & Smeaton, 1986;Karylowski, 1976;Werner & Parmelee, 1979).…”

How ideological migration geographically segregates groups

“…For example, moral value similarity is more important in selecting others as friends (Haidt, Hom, & Rosenberg, 2003), teammates in the workplace (Guillaume, Bridbock, & Ricketta, 2012), and neighbors (Putnam, 2007). So, an influence on migration may be seeking environments where are there more similar others on specific important characteristics such as lifestyle, values, and political ideology (Byrne, Clore, & Smeaton, 1986;Karylowski, 1976;Werner & Parmelee, 1979).…”

Interpersonal Attraction and Relationships

“…Information about another's similarity is frequently interpreted to mean that the other is likely to be benevolent (146,159,292,297), to be compati ble (303), or to have greater ability than a dissimilar other to provide rewards (42). The other's similarity also makes it seem more likely that he will like us in return (141, 150,153,179).…”