Running Head: INTELLECTUAL ATTRACTION SCALE
1
Literature Review
Sentence Outline 2
[Introduction]
I. Relationships fulfill personal and social needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
(1954).
II. Interpersonal relationships are formed by attraction and function as mental, physical, and
emotional stimulation.
III. Interpersonal attraction is rooted deep within communication concepts that explain why
we form relationships with certain individuals.
IV. The term attraction originated in the 16th century and referred to the body’s absorption of
nourishments (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014).
A. In the 21st century it is often thought of as an affective evaluation of another
individual.
B. The word has been operationalized behaviorally (e.g., affiliation) and cognitively
(e.g., assessing traits or attributes) in research.
C. James McCroskey (1974) identified three dimensions of attraction: social, task,
and physical.
V. The purpose of this study was to determine if a fourth dimension of interpersonal
attraction exists.
A. Research in interpersonal attraction, homophily, and transformational leadership
in the classroom is reviewed.
B. Two pilot studies and one focus group were conducted to strengthen the rationale
for future testing.
[Review of Literature]
I. (Predictors of attraction: homophily) Homophily is considered to be a cause of, or
variable of, communication for certain communication outcomes (Rodgers & Shoemaker,
1971).
A. Homophily is the degree to which two communicators perceive themselves as
similar (McCroskey, Hamilton, & Weiner, 1974).
B. In an academic setting, instructor homophily refers to how students perceive
themselves to have shared beliefs and experiences similar to their instructor.
1. “Students who see themselves as similar to teachers would then be more
likely to communicate with and understand their teachers” (Rocca &
McCroskey, 1999, p. 309).
2. Myers et al. (2009) proposed student’s self-reports of their in-class
participation would be positively related to perceived instructor
background and attitude homophily.
3. Results support the hypothesis, student in-class participation is associated
with perceived instructor background homophily, and attitude homophily.
C. Homophily is a significant a predictor of attraction, especially in the classroom.
II. (Dimensions of attraction: there are believed to be 3) Interpersonal Attraction has been
found to be a facilitator of interpersonal communication over the last four decades.
A. Research suggests that the more people are attracted to one another, the more they
will communicate with each other, and the more we are attracted to another
2
person, the more influence that person has on us in interpersonal relationships
(McMcroskey & McCain, 1974).
B. McCroskey and McCain’s (1974) groundbreaking study yielded the three multidimensional constructs of interpersonal attraction used today.
1. Social attraction refers to a personal liking property.
a. This includes items similar to the statement “I think s/he could be a
friend of mine.”
b. Items in this dimension have achieved past reliabilities of .91 to
.94 (McCroskey, McCroskey, & Richmond, 2006).
2. Task attraction is related to how easy or worthwhile working with
someone would be.
a. The final dimension includes statements resembling the statement,
“I couldn’t get anything accomplished with him/her.”
b. Items in this dimension have achieved past reliabilities of .95 to
.96 (McCroskey, McCroskey, & Richmond, 2006).
3. Physical attraction is based on dress and physical features.
a. This dimension is represented by items such as “I think s/he is
quite handsome/pretty.”
b. Items in this dimension have achieved past reliabilities of .95 to
.96 (McCroskey, McCroskey, & Richmond, 2006).
c. Dion, Berscheid, and Walster (1972) found physically attractive
individuals were perceived to be better marital partners,
professional prospects, and generally more happy than unattractive
individuals.
d. Physically attractive individuals have also been credited as being
communicatively skilled than unattractive individuals (Goldman &
Lewis, 1977).
e. Even if one is not found to be physically attractive, their
communication competence influences perceived physical, social,
and task attraction (Duran & Kelly, 1988).
C. This scale has been revised to improve the reliability and validity (McCroksey,
McCroksey, & Richmond, 2006).
1. Notably, they included a new sample population to better generalize
results.
a. It was originally thought that students’ age level and early adult
orientations toward the opposite sex might cause bias in attraction
scales.
b. Therefore, older adults were recruited in addition to undergraduate
students.
2. The new reliability of the scale ranges from .91 to .96.
D. The Revised Measure of Interpersonal Attraction (McCroksey, McCroksey, &
Richmond, 2006) has been used in an Instructional Communication context to
assess the role of attraction in the student-teacher relationship.
III. (Attraction in the classroom; it’s linked to positive outcomes) McCroskey, Richmond, &
McCroskey (2005) suggest students initiate communication with instructors to whom
3
they are attracted to and attraction is a key factor for student motivation in an
instructional context.
A. Weiss & Houser (2007) sought to explore the (R1) extent to which student
motives to communicate are related to interpersonal attraction toward an
instructor, and (R2) which motives for student communication with an instructor
predict physical, social, and task attraction toward them.
1. Results suggest students motivated to establish a relationship, develop
appropriate excuses, and create a favorable impression with their
instructor contribute most to predicting social attraction.
2. Further, student motivation for making appropriate excuses for lack of
responsibility, motivation to establish and maintain a relationship, and
motivation to seek out information contributes most to predicting task
attraction.
3. Communicating to develop and maintain a personal relationship with the
instructor contributed most to physical attraction.
B. This belief influenced Myers et al. (2009) to hypothesize that homophily and
students in class participation are related to instructor attractiveness.
1. Findings indicate in-class participation is not related to perceived
instructor task attractiveness due to the expectation students have for their
instructors to be task attractive.
2. Their study indicates student in-class participation is associated with
perceived instructor social attractiveness, and physical attractiveness.
IV. (Student Intellectual Stimulation Scale) Teacher leadership is often studied in the
Instructional Communication emphasis.
A. Instructors who employ the Transformational Leadership Model are believed to
enhance student performance in the classroom.
B. The Transformational Leadership Model posits four factors; idealized influence or
charisma, inspirational motivation, individual consideration, and intellectual
stimulation (Pounder, 2003).
C. Research has established this model applicable to the higher education classroom
by replacing the leaders with teachers, and the subordinates with students
(Pounder, 2006).
D. Intellectual stimulation is the ability to stimulate thought and imagination,
problem awareness, and problem solving (Bass, 1985; Bolkan, Goodboy &
Griffin, 2011; Pounder, 2003, 2006).
E. Bolkan and Goodboy (2011) conducted a qualitative study to identify which
instructor communication behaviors students believed promoted transformational
leadership in the college classroom.
1. Results suggest intellectual stimulation is communicated though teaching
style, challenging students, independent thought, classroom participation,
humor, and content relevance.
2. Additionally, students were exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking
that facilitated intellectually stimulating conversations amongst their peers
when instructors promoted group participation and participation in class
allowed.
4
F. After their qualitative investigation, Bolkan and Goodboy (2010) developed a
measure of intellectual stimulation in the college classroom.
1. Based on the notion of transformational leadership in the classroom, the
Student Intellectual Stimulation Scale (SISS) has three components;
interactive teaching style, challenging students, and encouraging
independent thought.
2. Each dimension consists of 10 items measured in a 7-point Likert-type
format.
3. The 30-item scale was subjected to a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
and has total scale alpha reliability of .94.
4. The SISS is positively related to student reports of perceived cognitive
learning, affective learning, state motivation, student communication
satisfaction, and student reports of learner empowerment.
5. The researchers acknowledge one limitation of their study is its scope.
a. The scale has an established convergent and concurrent validity
but not its predictive validity in the classroom environment.
b. In addition, they call for future research to examine the influence
intellectual stimulation has on students’ experiences in the
classroom.
G. Bolkan, Goodboy and Griffin (2011) examined how student’s perceptions of their
teacher’s intellectual stimulation are associated with intrinsic motivation and
student approaches to studying.
1. Results show intellectual stimulation and intrinsic motivation are
positively related to one another, but intrinsic motivation only partially
mediated the relationship between instructor’s intellectual stimulation and
students’ approaches to studying.
2. There is partial evidence to support the hypothesis that when instructors
use intellectual stimulating behaviors, specifically when they challenge
students, students will approach their learning in tactical ways.
H. Bolkan (2011) further investigated how instructors intellectually stimulating
behaviors influence students’ intrinsic motivation by focusing on affective
learning and student engagement.
1. His study showed affective learning mediated the relationship between
intellectual stimulation and intrinsic motivation.
2. This suggests students enjoy their coursework more, and work harder to
master course material when they become engaged in the classroom.
I. Intellectual stimulation has proven to be a pertinent factor of student learning
outcomes and is possibly a factor of attraction in the student-teacher relationship.