I
am a body language expert, with degrees with an emphasis in Body Language and Nonverbal
Communication. Just as the research on song shows that repetitive lyrics
increase the liability of a song and the repeated playing of a song increases
our liking of a song there is “Familiarity Breeds Liking and Attractiveness. Effect”
I use to teach this to my students in my Body Language Class at Florida State
and now I teach in my corporate training on first impressions and sales. I told my college students “If you like
someone and don’t know how to ask them out find a way to casually cross their
path on campus even if just to wave or smile Don’t stalk them just pass by them
once a day or once a week and overtime the familiarity breeds liking and attractiveness
effect” has the potential to make the person find you attractive. This familiarity opens the possibility of a connection. Nonverbal
Communication Research and Research on Attractiveness sometimes called this the
“Exposure Principal.” The Exposure principle has also been shown to increase our
perception of someone’s intelligence.
Here is a research study on the topic.
A group of 22 single people was shown
pictures of 112 faces that had rated reasonably highly on a 9-point scale of
attractiveness and were then asked to give their own rating out of nine.
The photos kept scrolling so faces were shown
multiple times and the scores out of nine increased when faces were shown
multiple times.
Rather than love at first sight, it seemed
that participants experienced love at fourth sight, which was when the
repetition effect was strongest.
At the same time, the brains of the participants
were scanned for electrical activity and the pattern was backed up — the more
times people saw faces, the more brain wave activity associated with excitement
took place.
“Much to their surprise, people often find
themselves drawn to individuals after multiple encounters, even when there was
no initial attraction. Cupid’s arrow is often slow to strike. An important part
of the phenomenon may be attributable to the gradual change in attractiveness
from repetition,” Psychologist Dr Ravi Thiruchselvam told the Daily
Mail.
Not sure whether this study is encouraging for
those of us who don’t have Ryan Gosling wow-factor, or a little creepy that we
can effectively be brainwashed into finding people attractive if we see
them enough. But it seems that when it comes to flirting if at first you
don’t succeed, try, try again.
