Personality Similarity and Social Desirability in Interpersonal Attraction among Elementary School Children

The present study is an attempt, first, to demonstrate an evidence that personality similarity and social desirability give rise to interpersonal attraction, and, secondly, to examine the differential relationships among criteria used. In Study 1,106 6-th graders (61 boys and 45 girls) served as subjects. Whether there is similarity-attraction relationship, and social desirability-attraction relationship in the already established friendliness or not is explored, employing four criteria-liking, play, schoolwork, and class chairman. Main findings were as follows: (1) Personality similarity between the chooser and those who were chosen was not found. (2) Those who were chosen were not socially more desirable than the chooser, except in class chairman criterion where girls chose significantly more desirable girls. (3) In all criteria, the chooser perceived the chosen as socially more desirable than the chooser himself and, than the ratings of the chosen. In Study 2, an experimental analysis was made to examine similarity-attraction and social desirability-attraction relationship in such criteria as liking, play and class chairman. Subjects were 112 5-th graders (57 boys and 55 girls). Main findings were as follows: (1) In the criteria of liking and play, similar others were liked most, socially desirable others liked next, and dissimilar others liked least. (2) In the criterion of class chairman, socially desirable others were liked most, and there was no difference in the amount of attraction between similar others and dissimilar others. These results may safely be interpreted to show that, even in elementary school children, personality similarity and social desirability give rise to interpersonal attraction, but they are not exceedingly strong factors; and, that in some criteria similarity plays the most important role, and in others social desirability does the same important role. The obtained results were compared with those reported in earlier studies and some discussion was made in regard to the agreements and discrepancies together with a few suggestions for further analysis