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This study assessed attributions made to an attractive or unattractive person who took either a proximal or distal seating position following task performance. Greater attributions of success were made to an attractive person, regardless of the proximity, which suggests pervasive influence of physical attractiveness on attributions in behavioral situations. (Author)

This study examined the effects of age, sex, and setting on interpersonal physical distance (IPD) preferences among 160 1st, 5th, 9th, and 12th grade white public school students. Within each grade, subjects were tested two at a time in same-sex pairs. Subjects' IPD preferences were tested by both direct and indirect modes of measurement in "corner" and "center" settings. Indirect measures were poorly correlated with the direct measures and showed no effects. Analysis of the direct measures showed IPD to be greater among older than among younger children; greater among males than among females; and greater in the corner than in the center setting. There were also significant interactions of age with sex and with setting. Sex differences were less marked among younger than among older subjects. Younger and older subjects reacted differently to the corner and center settings, with the youngest children maintaining closer IPD in the corner setting and all other subjects maintaining closer IPD in the center setting. (Author/CS)