The law of propinquity states that the greater physical (or psychological) proximity between people, the greater the chance that they will form friendships or romantic relationships. It was first theorized by psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, and Kurt Back in what came to be called the Westgate studies conducted at MIT (1950).
There are various types of propinquity including Industry/Occupational Propinquity, in which similar people working in the same field or job tend to be attracted to one another. Residential Propinquity, in which people living in the same area or within neighborhoods of each other tend to come together. And Acquaintance Propinquity, a form of proximity in existence when friends tends to have a special bond of interpersonal attraction.
To this list we’d add Marketing Propinquity. Continue reading