Ch. 11 discusses five factors that research suggests help initiate friendships.
ID: 3467241 • Letter: C
Question
Ch. 11 discusses five factors that research suggests help initiate friendships. Some of those factors appear to be more consistent with an "attitude causes behavior" perspective and some of the factors appear to be more consistent with a "behavior determines attitudes" perspective. Choose one of the five factors and explain how it could be interpreted as more consistent with attitudes cause behaviors. Choose another factor and explain how it could be interpreted as more consistent with behaviors lead to attitudes.
Explanation / Answer
The five factors that research suggests help initiate friendships are reciprocal candor, mutual interest, personableness, similarity, and physical attraction. Mutual interest pertains to having similar interests and humor and can be interpreted as more consistent with the view that attitudes lead to behaviors. We often form cliques and circles of friends with common interests, such as politics, music, religion, sport or the same profession. The factor reciprocal candor is related to communication and self-disclosure and can be considered to be more consistent with the behaviors leading to attitudes position. When individuals share intimate conversations with each other, they are likely to develop stronger bonds.