Abstract

RODRIGUES, David  and  GARCIA-MARQUES, Teresa. Marquemos o encontro ao cimo da escada: O papel da activação fisiológica na atracção interpessoal. Aná. Psicológica [online]. 2005, vol.23, n.4, pp.427-436. ISSN 0870-8231.

This paper addresses the question of how previous arousal influences perceived attraction (general and romantic) for a target person (pre-tested to be "neutral" in beauty and friendliness). The level of arousal was manipulated by making half of the participants engage in physical exercise (running up and down the stairs). Perceived romantic and general attraction for the target person was measured either immediately after the exercise or after 3 minutes of rest. The 72 participants in this study were all females. The aroused participants reported higher levels of general attraction for the target person relatively to the participants who didn’t exercise. In addition, delay from arousal seems to moderate this effect, since the participants who had a rest between arousal and the judgments reported higher levels of general attraction. Finally, participants’ involvement in a loving relationship in their lives, affected the attraction felt for the target; which suggests this variable to be a moderator of the present effect.

Keywords : Initial attraction; physiologic activation.

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