The relative effects of competence and likability on interpersonal attraction.
Undergraduate students in Singapore (N = 80) learned about the competence (low vs. high) and likability (low vs. high) of a future interaction partner and indicated their attraction toward that stranger. The effect of likability was two times as large as that of competence. Because of the additive effects of the two manipulated factors on attraction, the authors interpreted the preference for lovable fools over competent jerks as an outcome of a generalized supremacy of likability over competence.
Singh
Ramadhar
R
Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore. psysingh@nus.edu.sg
Tor
Xue Ling
XL
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002605:Character; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology