ABSTRACT
Propinquity often leads to interpersonal attraction (Nahemow & Lawton, 1975; Priest & Sawyer, 1967; Segal, 1974). When people live in the same neighborhood, work in the same office building, or shop in the same stores, they are likely to become friends. There are at least two ways in which such friendships could arise. First, a shared environment provides opportunities for social interaction, and if those interactions are rewarding, then the participants may learn to like one another. But many social encounters seem to involve little or no interaction-the participants exchange (at most) a nod of the head or some brief greeting. Could these “passive contacts” (cf. Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950) also lead people to like one another? Research on the mere exposure phenomenon suggests that they could.
