When Festinger and his colleagues studied friendship patterns among married couples in an apartment complex at MIT, they found that people who lived at the foot of the stairs or near mailboxes had more friends on upper floors than did other people who lived on the first floor. This illustrates the power of __________ to influence friendship patterns.
A) physical distance
B) functional distance
C) similarity
D) movement patterns

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Functional distance refers to the influence of architectural design on the likelihood of two people crossing paths and forming a relationship. In this case, people who live near the mailboxes or at the foot of the stairs have higher functional distance because they are more likely to cross paths with people on upper floors. This increases the likelihood of forming friendships with people on upper floors. Physical distance (A) may have some impact, but the focus of the study was on functional distance. Similarity (C) and movement patterns (D) were not mentioned in relation to the study.

When Festinger and His Colleagues Studied Friendship Patterns Among Married