The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A meta-analytic investigation of the processes underlying the similarity-attraction effect
Abstract
This research investigated two competing explanations of the similarity effect: Byrne’s (1971) reinforcement model and the information processing perspective. A meta-analysis of 240 laboratory-based similarity studies explored moderators important to the similarity effect, including set size, proportion of similarity, centrality of attitudes, and information salience. Results indicated effects for proportion of similarity, centrality of attitudes, and information salience, and were largely consistent with predictions of the information processing perspective. We discuss the implications of these findings for the two perspectives, for other models for the similarity effect, and for the role of affect and cognition in the experience of interpersonal attraction.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Festinger, L. (1957) · doi:10.1515/9781503620766 · Cited by 24,241 · cited 1×
“The early dominant model of the similarity effect was posited by Byrne (1971), who borrowed concepts from cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) and classical conditioning to argue that similar attitudes serve as reinforcers.”
From acts to dispositions the attribution process in person perception
Jones, E. E., & Davis, K. E. (1965) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60107-0 · Cited by 3,424
Fixed-and random-effects models in meta-analysis.
Hedges, L. V., & Vevea, J. L. (1998) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.3.4.486 · Cited by 2,977
Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety
Dutton, D. G., & Aron, A. P. (1974) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0037031 · Cited by 934
The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness
Aronson, E., Willerman, B., & Floyd, J. (1966) · Psychonomic Science · doi:10.3758/bf03342263 · Cited by 218
Effects of information on interpersonal attraction: Similarity versus affective value
Ajzen, I. (1974) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0036002 · Cited by 116
Cited by
Playing with Strangers: Which Shared Traits Attract Us Most to New People?
Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129688 · Cited by 65
Nabity-Grover, T., Matthews, K. D., Roth, P. L., Kwon, Y., & Thatcher, J. B. (2025) · Information Systems Research · doi:10.1287/isre.2020.0497 · Cited by 3
Metadata
- Authors
- Montoya, R. M., & Horton, R. S.
- Venue
- Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-08-21
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 64-94
- ISSN
- 0265-4075 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3608
- OpenAlex
- W2158924431
- Cited by
- 340
- References
- 6
- FWCI
- 14.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: A meta-analytic investigation of the processes underlying the similarity-attraction effect. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/0265407512452989
- The paper
- Montoya, R. M., & Horton, R. S. (2013). A meta-analytic investigation of the processes underlying the similarity-attraction effect. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512452989
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.