| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Human Relationships |
| Editors | Harry T. Reis, Susan Sprecher |
| Place of Publication | Thousand Oaks, CA |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications, Inc |
| Pages | 788-790 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Volume | 3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781412958479 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781412958462 |
| State | Published - 2009 |
Abstract
The hard-to-get phenomenon refers to the notion, held across diverse cultures and espoused by sources ranging from Socrates to Ovid to the Kama Sutra, that individuals experience greater attraction to a person who is or seems difficult to attract than to a person who is or seems easy to attract. Although theorizing on the hard-to-get phenomenon dates back to ancient times, the phenomenon did not receive empirical attention until the 1970s. This entry briefly reviews and evaluates the empirical research on the hard-to-get phenomenon in romantic contexts.