AROUSAL AND ATTRACTION - EVIDENCE FOR AUTOMATIC AND CONTROLLED PROCESSES

A meta-analysis, a review, and an experiment investigated the effect o f arousal on attraction. The meta-analysis examined experiments that m anipulated arousal level. Results indicated that arousal affects attra ction even when the arousal source is relatively unambiguous. In contr ast, a review of experiments that manipulated arousal source ambiguity suggested that arousal exerts a stronger influence on attraction when arousal sources are greater in ambiguity. The authors proposed a judg ment and adjustment model that states that arousal automatically affec ts judgments of attraction but that individuals can correct (i.e., adj ust) for this automatic effect when the arousal source is unambiguous. Consistent with this model, an experiment provided evidence that cogn itive busyness interferes with the adjustment process.