In class currently we are talking about Attraction. Particularly, we discussed how proximity lends itself extensively to attraction. However, in our world today proximity is equated with a menacing term known as the friendzone. The friendzone is when an individual has romantic feelings for a friend that are unreturned, leading to a mismatch in expectations for the relationship.
So how can this paradox exist, that the closer you get to someone the further into the “friendzone” you go? I believe if we delve into the psychological concept of the mere exposure effect, we can understand why this phenomenon is the case. In layman’s terms, the mere exposure effect posits that the more you hear or see something, the more you like it. Pyschologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment where he showed subject multiple images (some more than once) and asked them about how pleasant the images were. The result demonstrated that if the subject had seen the image many times, they reported that they liked it more.
In terms of the mere exposure effect and the friendzone, here is my hypothesis. In some cases, the more you are around someone, your attraction romantically converts into familiarity platonically.