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Appel P R: Matching of representational systems and interpersonal attraction.
Dissertation Abstracts International 43(9), 3021-B United States International University (Pub = AAC8301835): 192, 1983.
Abstract: This study was an empirical investigation of one aspect of the Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) model developed since 1975 by Bandler and Grinder. The relationship between matching Primary Representational Systems (PRSs) and interpersonal attraction was examined. This research was a necessary first step toward clinical application since, if language usage were found to enhance interpersonal attraction, training in PRS matching might provide a useful tool for psychotherapists. The 143 adult respondents represented a general cross- section of the United States population. They rated the attractiveness of three male and three female target presenters giving recorded monologue segments in language indicative of the three most common PRSs. A counter-balanced design employing a Latin square variation established the sequence of the segments. Attraction was measured via the second scale, Counselor Rating Form (Barak and LaCrosse, 1975). A null hypothesis was investigated, first through measuring the relationship between attraction and the respondent's primary, secondary, and least-used representational systems; then by measuring visual, auditory and kinesthetic PRS-oriented respondents' attraction toward target individuals presenting in the three PRSs. The data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance to discover the perceived attractiveness according to (1) PRS matching, (2) sex and (3) interaction of PRS matching and sex. The findings showed that PRS matching and sex made a difference in the respondents' perceptions of attractiveness (of the target individuals) only as follows: Targets of the opposite sex were experienced as significantly more attractive (p<.05) and the interaction of secondary representational system and opposite sex showed a significant relationship (p<.05) with the respondents' perceptions of attractiveness.