Exposure had only weak effects on familiarity but strong effects on attraction and perceived similarity. Students liked the woman who had been present most substantially more, despite never having spoken to her.
How it was done
Four women of similar appearance attended a large lecture course 0, 5, 10 or 15 times and never interacted with anyone. At the end of term, 130 students rated them from slides.
What it means
The controlled part is what makes it useful: no conversation, no interaction, nothing to like except presence. The liking still moved.
It is the formation-side counterpart to the reaching-out finding. In both cases people underestimate the social return on low-effort behaviour.
It also explains why friendship gets harder after education ends. School and university manufacture repeated unplanned exposure; most adult life does not.
