ABSTRACT
T here are a myriad of factors that might influence the onset of a romantic relationship. Various factors may influence whether two people are more or less likely to meet (e.g., whether they have overlapping social circles), likely to interact (e.g., whether they tend to visit similar establishments), and likely to continue on a course toward a relationship (e.g., whether they enjoy doing the same things). In this chapter we examine a specific set of factors, namely, the social and physical environments in which relationships are situated, that play a significant role in guiding the onset and course of close relationships. One of our goals is to discuss extant research on social and physical factors that influence relationship initiation. However, a second, more central goal is to elucidate how such factors are considered in explaining relationship initiation from an interdependence theory framework (Holmes, 2004; Kelley et al., 2003). As such, we limit our review of social and physical factors insofar as they are relevant to an interdependence analysis (see Parks, 2007, as well as Fehr, this volume, for a review of additional social and physical factors).
