Saturday, October 27, 2007

Appendix F: Reinforcement Affect Model

Why are some people attractive-
Some people are attractive because they supply us with rewards, praise or benefits- which makes us associate them with pleasurable experiences (Michener & DeLameter, 1999).

A variation of reinforcement theory derived from learning is the reinforcement affect model (Byrne & Clore, 1970); drawn from Classical Conditioning, which asserts:

* People identify stimuli as rewarding or punishing and seek out the former while avoiding the latter.

* Positive feelings are associated with rewarding stimuli

* People can be liked or disliked depending on whether they are associated with positive or negative stimuli. (Vaughan & Hogg, 2005)


Byrne, D., & Clore, G.L. (1970). A reinforcement-affect model of evaluative responses. Personality: An International Journal, 1, 103-128.

Michener, H.A., & DeLamater, J.D. (1999). Social Psychology (4th ed.). Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Vaughan, G.M., & Hogg, M.A. (2005). Introduction to Social Psychology (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

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