A Reexamination of the Tele Effect

Abstract

Sometimes our awareness of it is distinct and sometimes it is barely perceptible, but we often find that we "hit it off' or "are in synch" with some people and not with others, and that however we feel about them, they in turn often feel the same way about us. This mutuality of feeling with another person is what Moreno called "the tele effect." The variable of tele has been observed by social scientists since the I 930s, and yet what actually happens when tele is experienced is not well understood. In fact it might be said that it is often misunderstood, possibly because of the metaphorical language that has been used to describe it, possibly because empathy is
difficult to conceptualize, and possibly because empirical research in interpersonal perception and attraction has developed only in recent years. In this article, I examine some of the relevant social and behavioral science literature in communication theory, interpersonal perception, interpersonal attraction, and empathy in order to advance some possible explanations for the tele-effect phenomenon and to formulate a reconceptualization of the construct.