From First Sight to Friendship: A Longitudinal Social Relations Analysis of Stability and Change in Interpersonal Attraction

The present study investigated interpersonal attraction from zero to long-term acquaintance in a real-life context. A social relations approach that distinguishes between perceiver effects (e.g., being a liker), target effects (e.g., being liked), and relationship effects (e.g., unique liking) of interpersonal attraction was applied. Fifty-four psychology freshmen judged each other when they encountered one another for the first time, and again after their first year of study, using large round-robin designs (1,431 dyads). Three main groups of findings were revealed. First, variability increased on all three levels of analysis, demonstrating a higher differentiation at long-term acquaintance. Second, social relations effects at zero acquaintance predicted the respective effects at long-term acquaintance, indicating rank-order stability. Third, reciprocity, assumed reciprocity, and meta-accuracy increased substantially, reflecting higher closeness and intimacy at long-term acquaintance. Results are in line with a dynamic social relations approach to stability and change in interpersonal attraction.