Nov 10
21
Attraction Branding and Perceived Similarity
Interpersonal Attraction
Attraction has been linked to similarity of attitudes, belief, and interests in university research since the 1960’s. Personally, I invested four years in post-graduate research into interpersonal attraction. The implications for social media are profound, because we open to the public intimate details about our attitudes and interests on our Facebook profiles.
Perceived Similarity and Attraction
A recent article in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships reported research indicating that perceived similarity is more important than actual similarity in causing interpersonal attraction. On social media the question we should be asking ourselves is, “how do we want to be perceived?” The answer will affect the kind of people we attract.
In light of the research cited above, we might consider whether we want to be perceived exactly as we actually are, i.e., authentically, or as our ideal personality. Do we plan to improve ourselves? What kind of people do we want to attract? And what kind of people will we actually want to spend our lives with? You can control your profile, and then you will live with the people you attract…
