Marquemos o encontro ao cimo da escada.

O papel da activação fisiológica na atracção interpessoal

 

 

DAVID RODRIGUES (*)

TERESA GARCIA-MARQUES (*)

 

 

RESUMO

No presente artigo é estudado o impacto da activação fisiológica prévia na atracção sentida por uma pessoa alvo, quer a nível geral, quer a nível romântico, no “primeiro momento” de um encontro. O nível de activação fisiológica foi manipulado através do exercício físico (subir e descer escadas) realizado pelos participantes antes de avaliarem a pessoa alvo – considerada como “neutra” em termos de beleza física e simpatia.

Verificou-se que numa amostra de 72 pessoas do género feminino, a excitação fisiológica provocou níveis de atracção geral tendencialmente mais elevados, comparativamente com as pessoas que não realizaram exercício físico. Estes efeitos foram-se acentuando com o aumento da distância temporal entre a activação fisiológica e os julgamentos de atracção. O facto de um indivíduo estar envolvido amorosamente com outro interferiu no grau de atractividade reportado pela pessoa-alvo, sugerindo a hipótese de moderação do efeito em estudo.

Palavras-chave: Atracção interpessoal, activação fisiológica.

 

 

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the question of how previous arousal influences perceived attraction (general and romantic) for a target person (pre-tested to be “neutral” in beauty and friendliness). The level of arousal was manipulated by making half of the participants engage in physical exercise (running up and down the stairs). Perceived romantic and general attraction for the target person was measured either immediately after the exercise or after 3 minutes of rest.

The 72 participants in this study were all females. The aroused participants reported higher levels of general attraction for the target person relatively to the participants who didn’t exercise. In addition, delay from arousal seems to moderate this effect, since the participants who had a rest between arousal and the judgments reported higher levels of general attraction. Finally, participants’ involvement in a loving relationship in their lives, affected the attraction felt for the target; which suggests this variable to be a moderator of the present effect.

Key words: Initial attraction, physiologic activation.

 

 

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(*) Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa.

A correspondência relativa a este artigo deve ser enviada para: Teresa Garcia-Marques, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-011, Lisboa. E-mail: gmarques@ispa.pt