Different mediators for the age, sex, and attitude similarity effects in interpersonal attraction

Abstract

The authors manipulated attitude similarity between a same age-sex stranger and participants aged 7-21 years and measured interpersonal attraction. The mediators measured were inferred attraction and affect in Experiment 1 and inferred attraction and cognitive evaluation in Experiment 2. In general, attraction was higher at younger than older ages and for an attitudinally similar than dissimilar stranger. Attitude similarity effects were mediated by the two measured variables in each experiment. Importantly, decrease in attraction of females from ages 11 to 21 years was mediated by inferred attraction, and increase in attraction of males across these ages was mediated by cognitive evaluation. Results support initial influences of the person positivity bias, followed by communal motives in females and agentive motives in males.