Do Opposites Really Attract?
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 25 December 2020
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about why opposites don’t really attract; the “propinquity effect” and how physical distance affects the way we feel about other people; and the history of when and why we started using last names.
Opposites Don’t Attract by Kelsey Donk
- Johnson, M. D. (2018, February 12). No, opposites do not attract. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/no-opposites-do-not-attract-88839
- Montoya, R. M., & Horton, R. S. (2012). A meta-analytic investigation of the processes underlying the similarity-attraction effect. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(1), 64–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512452989
We Like What’s Physically Close to Us by Mae Rice
- New evidence for the “propinquity effect” – mere physical closeness increases our liking of desirable people and things. (2018, August). Research Digest; Research Digest. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/08/01/new-evidence-for-the-propinquity-effect-mere-physical-closeness-increases-our-liking-of-desirable-people-and-things/
- Shin, J., Suh, E. M., Li, N. P., Eo, K., Chong, S. C., & Tsai, M.-H. (2018). Darling, Get Closer to Me: Spatial Proximity Amplifies Interpersonal Liking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(2), 300–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218784903
The History of Last Names by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Gregory)
- Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps. (2012). Forebears.Io. https://forebears.io/surnames
- Surnames & The Norman Conquest | Heritage Family History. (2016, September 3). Heritagefamilyhistory.co.uk. https://www.heritagefamilyhistory.co.uk/blog/2016/09/surnames-the-norman-conquest/
- SCMP. (2016, November 17). South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2046955/complex-origins-chinese-names-demystified
- The Memi De-Shalit Database of Jewish Family Names at Beit Hatfutsot. (2020). Beit Hatfutsot. https://www.bh.org.il/databases/family-names/jewish-family-names-introduction/
- Muraskin, B. (2014, January 8). Jewish Surnames Explained. Slate Magazine; Slate. https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/01/ashkenazi-names-the-etymology-of-the-most-common-jewish-surnames.html
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Season's greetings. We're wrapping up the year with a look back at your favorite |
| 0:04.8 | episodes of 2020. Enjoy this Curiosity Daily Classic and stay subscribe for |
| 0:09.8 | brand new episodes starting January 1. We'll see you in 2021. |
| 0:15.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from |
| 0:19.1 | Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough. |
| 0:21.0 | And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today you learn about why opposites don't really attract |
| 0:25.0 | and how physical distance affects the way we feel about other people. |
| 0:28.0 | We'll wrap up with a listener question about when and why we started using last names. |
| 0:33.4 | Let's send us some curiosity. |
| 0:35.6 | We're releasing this episode on Valentine's Day, |
| 0:38.3 | so we just had to get into some relationship research, |
| 0:41.0 | starting with that old saying that opposites attract. |
| 0:44.0 | You know, the idea that maybe creative types fall for analytical types or messy people end up with tidy people. |
| 0:50.0 | Well, I've got some news for you. Science says that idea is a big old myth. |
| 0:56.0 | According to research, we're most attracted to people who have similar attitudes, |
| 1:01.0 | personalities, interests, and values to our own. That's right. We love to tell ourselves |
| 1:06.4 | that opposites attract, but since the 1950s, social scientists have conducted more than |
| 1:11.2 | 240 studies to determine whether similarity or difference is what most leads to attraction. |
| 1:17.5 | In 2013, two psychologists looked at all the results of these studies put together in a meta analysis published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. |
| 1:27.0 | What they found was pretty conclusive. |
| 1:30.0 | There's a strong undeniable association between being similar to another person and being attracted to that person. |
| 1:36.0 | In other words, there is essentially no research evidence that differences in personality, interests, education, |
... |
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