“Like attracts like” is a foundational concept of the Law of Attraction, suggesting that similar energies naturally resonate and draw each other together. This principle usually ties directly to vibrational energy and frequency, suggesting that your emotions actively shape what you bring into existence. Phrases like “vibration attracts like vibration” and “energy attracts like energy” reinforce this core idea: the emotional frequency you emit determines what you draw toward yourself.
Despite the ‘like attracts like’ concept gaining popularity as part of the New Thought movement, more and more people view it as a practical philosophy and belief system. Meanwhile, scientists explore its validity through chemistry, quantum physics, and psychology, aiming to understand how it applies to our daily lives.
In this article, we will explore the meaning of the ‘like attracts like’ concept, its scientific explanations through chemistry, quantum physics, and psychology, ways to use this principle to attract what you desire, and notable quotes about the idea.
Advertisement
Advertisement
What Is the Meaning Of “Like Attracts Like”?
“Like attracts like” is a core principle of the Law of Attraction, suggesting that similar energies resonate with one another. This means that the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes you emit will attract corresponding experiences and people into your life.
For example, if you cultivate a mindset of abundance and positivity, you are more likely to attract opportunities and relationships that reflect those qualities.
Conversely, negative thoughts or emotions can lead to experiences that mirror those frequencies. This principle emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and intentionality, encouraging you to align your inner state with the outcomes you desire to manifest in your life.
This concept, “like attracts like,” is usually discussed with vibrational energy and frequency parallelly, as the basis of the Law of Attraction is to align your desire with your emotions vibrationally. As a result, the phrases “vibration attracts like vibration” and “energy attracts like energy” share the same meaning as the concept “like attracts like.”
Can We Explain The Principle “Like Attracts Like” by Science?
Yes, the principle “Like Attracts Like” in the law of attraction can be explained by specific scientific phenomena if we look into the idea of polarity in chemistry and the idea of resonance and particle entanglement in quantum physics.
“Like Attracts Like” In Chemistry
In chemistry, the principle of “like attracts like” is evident in the behavior of molecules and their interactions. This concept is often illustrated through the idea of polarity: polar molecules, which have an uneven distribution of charges, tend to attract other polar molecules, while nonpolar molecules attract nonpolar counterparts. For example, water (a polar molecule) mixes well with other polar substances but not with oils (nonpolar).
This principle is crucial in various chemical processes, including solubility and reactions, as similar molecular properties enhance interaction, stability, and formation of compounds, demonstrating how like substances naturally align and combine in the chemical world.
“Like Attracts Like” In Quantum Physics
In quantum physics, the principle of “like attracts like” can be related as particles exhibit behaviors where similar energies interact more favorably at a subatomic level. These behaviors can be explained by concepts like resonance and entanglement.
Resonance:
In physics, the principle of resonance suggests that objects or systems vibrating at similar frequencies can amplify each other’s effects. For example, when you tune two guitar strings to the same frequency and pluck one, the other will start to vibrate too. This is a literal case of “like vibration attracting like vibration.” Studies of harmonic oscillators and wave interference (e.g., in acoustics or electromagnetism) demonstrate this phenomenon mathematically and experimentally.
Entanglement:
Some interpretations of quantum mechanics, like the concept of quantum entanglement, show that particles with shared properties (e.g., spin or energy states) can influence each other regardless of distance. While this isn’t “attraction” in the classical sense, it’s sometimes cited in popular science or pseudoscience as evidence of “like energy” connecting. Serious quantum research (e.g., Bell’s Theorem experiments) doesn’t frame it as attraction but as correlation. These concepts correspond to the belief that people are drawn to one another by emitting similar energy, whether good or negative.
Like Attracts Like Or Opposites Attract?
In magnetism, like poles (north-north or south-south) repel, but in a broader sense, magnetic fields align particles with similar properties. Iron filings near a magnet line up in patterns because their “like” magnetic moments respond to the same field.
While not attraction between poles, it’s an example of nature organizing “like” entities (particles with similar magnetic properties) into cohesive patterns.
Psychological Studies That Demonstrate “Like Attracts Like” In Human Behaviors
A research study titled “Emotional Contagion,” conducted by Elaine Hatfield, John T. Cacioppo, and Richard L. Rapson in 1993, explores how emotions can spread between individuals like a contagion. The study reviews evidence suggesting that people unconsciously mimic the facial expressions, vocal tones, and postures of others, leading to a synchronization of emotional states. Their findings highlight that positive or negative emotions can transfer effortlessly, shaping social bonds and collective moods, with implications for psychology and interpersonal relationships.
Advertisement
Advertisement
What are Some Examples of “Like Attracts Like” in Real Life?
When two tuning forks are tuned to the same frequency and one is struck, the other will begin to vibrate as well, even without direct contact. The sound waves from the first fork cause the second to resonate because their “like” vibrational frequencies align.
People who feel prosperous all the time always attract money and opportunities. People who genuinely love and appreciate themselves always attract partners and friends who love and appreciate them.
If we consider ourselves as vibrational beings and everything in the world is energy vibrating in specific frequencies, the vibration we are emitting will always attract things, events, and people that are vibrating at the same frequencies.
How to Use The Principle “Like Attracts Like” To Attract What You Want?
To effectively use the principle of “like attracts like” in the law of attraction for attracting what you want, you must understand you attract what you are, and your vibration is determined by your thoughts and emotions.
You can cultivate your thoughts and emotions by picturing a clear vision of your desires. Write down specific goals and visualize them regularly, engaging all your senses to make the experience more vivid. This mental imagery aligns your thoughts and emotions with your desired outcomes.
Next, focus on your emotional state. Cultivate positive feelings such as gratitude, joy, and abundance. Surround yourself with uplifting influences—people, environments, and media that resonate with the energy you wish to attract. Your emotional vibrancy acts as a magnet for similar energies.
You can practice affirmations that reinforce your intentions. Regularly repeat positive statements that reflect your goals, helping to shift your mindset and align your beliefs with what you want to attract.
More importantly, take inspired action. Listen to your intuition and pursue opportunities that resonate with your desires. Engaging in activities that align with your goals reinforces your commitment and attracts like-minded people and circumstances.
Lastly, maintain an attitude of openness and trust. Allow the universe to bring your desires to you, remaining flexible and receptive to unexpected opportunities. By embodying the energy of what you want, you create a powerful attraction that draws those experiences into your life.
How To Avoid Attracting What You Don’t Want By Understanding the Idea “Like Attracts Like”?
To avoid attracting what you don’t want by understanding the idea “like attracts like”, you must first accept that you are the one and only one who is creating your own reality and you are what you attract.
Evaluate your life in various aspects—relationships, career, health, and personal growth. Identify negative patterns or feelings that may be attracting unwanted experiences in these areas.
If you find any unwanted pattern in your life, be aware of that negative thought and emotion. Shift your focus from what you don’t want to what you desire when it shows up next time. By accepting you are what you attract and consistently altering your thinking pattern, you will eventually stop attracting what you don’t want.
Advertisement
Advertisement
What Is The Best Way To Practice “Like Attracts Like”?
The best way to practice “like attracts like” is visualization. By visualizing yourself being or having what you want, you can tune your vibrational frequency into what you desire effectively. If you can keep yourself in your desired vibrational frequency consistently, you will attract and manifest your desire into existence under the principle of “like attracts like”.
10 Best Like Attracts Like Quotes
- “Birds of a feather flock together.” — English Proverb. A classic saying reflecting how similar beings naturally group together.
- “We are all attracted to people who are like us, whether in thought, feeling, or action.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson. The American essayist hints at the pull of shared traits in human connections.
- “Like attracts like; the cheerful attract the cheerful, the gloomy the gloomy.”— William Walker Atkinson, Thought Vibration 1906. A New Thought writer tying emotional states to attraction.
- “In nature, things of similar kind tend to unite; water seeks water, and fire feeds fire.”— Aristotle. A loose paraphrase from his observations in Physics, suggesting natural affinity.
- “You attract to you the predominant thoughts that you’re holding in your awareness, whether those thoughts are conscious or unconscious.”— Rhonda Byrne, The Secret 2006. A modern Law of Attraction take on mental similarity drawing like outcomes.
- “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”— Carl Gustav Jung. While not explicitly “like attracts like,” Jung implies a resonance between compatible natures.
- “Similar vibrations seek each other out; that’s why a tuning fork can set another ringing across a room.”— Nikola Tesla attributed. A nod to the physical principle of resonance as “like attracting like.”
- “People who are alike in spirit find each other, as rivers flow to the same sea.”— Kahlil Gibran. The poet evokes a natural pull between kindred souls.
- “What you are, so you attract; goodness calls to goodness, as light calls to light.”— James Allen, As a Man Thinketh 1903. A philosophical take on character shaping relationships.
- “In the dance of life, we step toward those whose rhythm matches ours.”— Anaïs Nin. A poetic reflection on harmony drawing people together.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Are You Interested In A Consultation Service?
Tell us more about you!
Reply