6 Scientific Theories Why We Like Some People And Don’t​ Like Others

Written by Shivani K  • 

The word “love” rings in the most pleasant emotions in most of us. But, time and again, people also try reasoning it out on a scientific level. Behold, folks, we aren’t talking about the chemistry behind love here (1). How does our brain or our heart decide if she or he is the one? What hormonal changes occur when one falls in love? What determines the positive and negative vibes that we get from people? Science has answers to that. Yes, we know science has answers to everything!

We have curated six scientific theories — experiments and facts that can help you know whether you fall in the “like-me” category or the “like-me-not” category. These theories will surely help you improve your interpersonal skills and will help you understand other people’s behavior better.

1. Using A Period At The End Of A Text? You Are Angry!

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We interpret a period while reading a book as the end of a statement. But, have you felt the same while reading a text message? We’re sure you just twitched. An experiment conducted with students at the State University of New York, Binghamton, tells us that text messages that did not include a period were considered to be much sincere than the ones that included a period (2).

If we want to communicate our emotions better, we make use of our non-verbal signals — facial expressions, body language or tone of our volume. But can we do the same with text messages? Certainly not! We resort to text imitation – like using an exclamation to convey anger or excitement, and we write in caps to make a point. Likewise, using a period in a text message makes us seem very serious or uninterested in the conversation.

2. How We Behave With Them Is What We Think Of Them

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Ever heard of the Pygmalion effect? It’s a phenomenon according to which we are prone to behave in a certain way with people that correlates to what we think of them. Basically, people’s behaviour is a reflection of how we perceive them (3). In other words, what we are trying to say is — the words we use to address someone goes a long way in shaping their personality.

3. We Are Drawn To People Who Have Traits That We Lack

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Our brain is an incessant thinking box that groups people we into two categories—humans we like and don’t like. Two rules apply to this:

  • We like individuals who have the same eccentricities as ours.
  • We also like those individuals who possess traits that counterpoise things we don’t like about ourselves (4).

So, we are attracted to those who make up for the qualities that we lack; for example, if a girl is beautiful but lacks confidence, she chooses to be with a guy who is handsome and confident.

4. We Find Ourselves Trusting Strangers Who Remind Us Of Someone We Once Trusted

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We all must have come across situations where we find ourselves trusting a stranger just because he/ she reminds us of someone we knew. Often times we even end up judging a stranger as unreliable simply because he/ she reminds us of someone who once cheated us. It’s the activity of our subconscious brain that tends to recognize patterns while we see a stranger; it checks to see if it matches with someone we already know. And then, it decides whether the person is trustworthy or not.

5. It Isn’t Our Eyes But Our Brain That Sees A Popular Person

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We, humans, are known to be a fundamentally social species. Like Aristotle rightly said, man is a social animal and a person’s popularity is often a reflection of their social network. A study reveals that remembering a renowned face is also a brain-game (5). The existence of a special neural network in our brain helps to determine the popularity of a person. So, if you thought recognition of popular faces was purely a task of the eyesight, now you know it’s actually the brain that’s the mastermind.

6. We Love It When People See Us For Who We Are

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Your vibe attracts your tribe. If you give out positive vibes, you’re also attracting positive vibes. And it’s always overwhelming to know that the opposite person is thinking exactly like how you want them to. Now, that makes us feel like the boss, doesn’t it? And our brain instantly puts them into a “liked-person” category. Let’s just say that our brain is our honorable critic!

And you thought you define your friends and foes based on their qualities alone? The brain is your actual control centre!

So, are you aware of any such theories? What helps you know whether you like a person or not? Let us know in the comments below.

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