In his discussion of interpersonal balance theory Heider postulated that unit relationships induce sentiment relationships. The relationship between anticipated interaction and interpersonal attraction was examined with female high school seniors (N=109) who read a description of a fictitious student and rated that student as someone they would like or dislike. Subjects were told that: (1) they would participate in a dyad to work on problem-solving tasks (work condition) or to discuss various topics (social condition); (2) the student they rated would or would not be their dyad partner; and (3) that student had a history of success or failure at the dyad task. Results showed significant main effects of anticipated interaction and of partners' ability. Subjects responded more favorably to partners with whom they anticipated interaction than to those with whom they did not anticipate interaction. Subjects also responded more favorably to partners with high ability than to partners with low ability. No main effect for type of task (work or social) was found. The findings tend to provide support for Heider's balance theory. (NRB)