![similarity psychology definition similarity psychology definition](http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Matching-Hypothesis.jpeg)
It increased familiarity and, subsequently, their mutual liking of each other. While their eventual relationship was definitely helped by his proximity to the family, it seems that the frequent contact between the two is what truly made a difference. My best friend’s family friend was at their house very frequently, played on the same hockey team as her brother, so was often at the rink when she was, and went to the same school as her brother, so was often at events there, as well. We can also see the familiarity effect at play in my best friend’s relationship with her family friend and my other friend’s marriage to the man from her church. Like my sister and the boy in her history class, this close proximity led to easy conversation and eventual attraction. They lived in the same building and were in the same classes and groups during this semester. Similarly, when my best friend studied in London, she and another boy had schedules that were exactly the same.
![similarity psychology definition similarity psychology definition](https://people.utm.my/norulhuda/files/2020/09/gestalt_principles_uxhints.com@2x-1536x1289-1-1024x859.png)
Due to this proximity, they began to become more comfortable with one another and learn more about each other, eventually breeding attraction. Like Chris and Lee, my sister and this boy did not really know one another, but ended up sitting together in a history class in college. The example of my sister is extremely similar to the example provided by Schneider et al. Moving onto my sister’s relationship with the boy she sat next to in class and my friend who dated the boy in her study abroad program, we can again see the effects of the proximity effect. Interestingly, the closest of these friendships was that of Madison, Sarah, and myself, who, as “locker buddies” for an entire year, had the most contact with one another. Positive feelings were enhanced and friendships were solidified. Then, because we had so much contact with one another, the familiarity effect came into play. This allowed us to talk to one another and learn about one another, leading to comfortable interactions. Due to our last names, Madison, Sarah, Charlotte, Lauren, and myself were frequently in contact with one another. This is where we can see the proximity effect in action. In fact, my two closest friends from this time, Madison and Sarah, and I shared a locker in first grade (due to alphabetical order), and Madison, who is still my best friend to this day, lives about two minutes from my house. With a W last name, myself, I was often seated by these girls in classes. First, we have my best friends growing up: Madison R., Sarah T., Charlotte T., and Lauren W. So, let’s take a close look at how the proximity and familiarity effects have impacted the relationships detailed above. Familiarity has been shown to be positive and reassuring for most people, while perceived similarity results in the assumption that people have more in common, facilitating warmer, more comfortable interactions (Schneider et al., 2012), all of which facilitate attraction. (2012) note that increased exposure to someone can increase preexisting opinions about them, but, in the absence of preexisting opinions, increased exposure results in positive feelings due to familiarity and perceived similarity. Interestingly, this phenomenon has been shown to be powerful in the creation of everything from friendships to life-long partnerships. Originally proposed by Leon Festinger and his colleagues in 1950, the proximity effect is the idea that physical and/or psychological closeness increases interpersonal liking and attraction (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts., 2012). Specifically, each of these relationships seems to have been developed with the help of the proximity effect and the familiarity effect. Despite the fact that all of these events seem relatively isolated, they actually have some elements in common. Another close friend married a man she saw at church each week. My best friend dated a family friend and then the boy in her small college study abroad program. My sister ended up dating the boy that sat next to her in history. Growing up, my best friends were Madison R., Sarah T., Charlotte T., and Lauren W.