What Is The Reward Theory Of Attraction?

The Reward theory of attraction says we like those who like us and give us rewarding experiences. People that really reward us are people who ask little of us in return. As an example you might feel rewarded when someone you are attracted to suddenly smiles at you. It is asking very little of you to return the smile to make that person your friend.

We learn by social interaction and when we are with someone we are attracted to we feel rewarded when those closest to us reward us with pleasant experiences instead of negative experiences.

The reward theory of attraction comes into effect when we feel attracted to those people who are similar to ourselves. Those we are attracted to may have similar interests, attitudes, values and experiences that complement our own. We feel closer to these people because they are like us mentally and often times physically.

The reward theory of attraction takes into account long relationships. When we have known someone for a long time, we feel that we can trust this friend because their is a history that is known about them and of course they know us best. We are attracted to people we can share intimate details about ourselves and have them still reward us by liking and sharing their lives with us.

People often don't go too far out of their comfort zones. If we think someone will like us we will try and become that person's friend because we believe that person will like us. The people we become closest to are in our closest social areas. We find people in our neighborhoods, schools, places of work and in close proximity to our area of living the most rewarding because they are easily accessible to us.

There are those that seek out unconventional relationships by going onto the internet and making friends online. Often people in cyberspace can be more attractive because often you cannot see them and you have to believe what they are saying is true to continue the relationship. Although their is mystery in this, often people who are males pretend they are females, and females pretending to be males. People say they are in CA but actually may be in Australia. People sometimes like to be what they are not, so it is harder to establish a relationship with someone in cyberspace who you cannot physically see.

To understand the reward theory of attraction, there has to be mutual liking, interests and the meeting of the minds, but in the end, to get closer and to be rewarded, most people will need to put a face to the words and hear the tone of voice to really become attracted to that person.