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The Effect of Intimacy: Reciprocity or Retreat?
Author(s) -
BREED GEORGE
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1972.tb00794.x
Subject(s) - reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , psychology , social psychology , set (abstract data type) , subject (documents) , eye contact , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , computer science , library science , programming language
Three conditions of intimacy were created through varying a confederate's body posture and search for eye contact. Forty‐eight male and 48 female undergraduates each interacted with a confederate (either male or female) for one of the three conditions. Predictions derived from the ‘intimacy equilibrium’ hypothesis were not supported. Increased intimacy resulted in an increase in eye contact ( P < 0·01), an increase in number of forward leans by the subject ( P < 0·05), and an increase in positive attitude towards the confederate ( P < 0·005). Rosenfeld's notion of non‐verbal reciprocity and Homan's exchange theory are used to explain the results. Some of the variables that may set limits upon the equilibrium hypothesis are discussed.