PS270 Chapter 10: SIMILARILTY VERSUS COMPLEMENTARITY
Document Summary
The greater similarity between husband and wife, the happier they are and the less likely they are to divorce. The more similar someone is to us the more we like them, likeness leads to liking. When liking the same music as another, people infer similar values as well. Getting to know someone and discovering they are dissimilar tends to decrease liking. If their dissimilar attitudes pertain to our strong moral cnvictions, we distance ourselves. Dissimilar attitudes depress liking more than similar attitudes enhance it. Within own groups when we expect similarity we find it hard to like someone with dissimilar views which explains why dating partners and roommates become more similar over time in emotional responses to events and in their attitudes. Attitude alignment promotes and sustains close relationships, leads partners to overestimate similarities. The more whites presume that blacks support their values, the more positive their racial attitudes. Cultural racism persists bc cultural differences are a fact of life.
