Cognitive Approach to Personal Relationships

cognitive explanation

focuses on how attraction is shaped by mental processes such as perception, interpretation, memory and evaluation of other people

Similarity-Attraction Model/Similarity Effect

suggests that people are more likely to be attracted to and form relationships with others who are similar to them, particularly in values, attitudes and background

Newcomb (1961) - Aim

To investigate the Similarity Effect by examining whether similarity in attitudes predicts the development of friendship over time

Newcomb - Method

17 male US university students; longitudinal field study using questionnaires, repeated measures, convenience sample