Breakdown of relationships: The Fatal Attraction hypothesis

Question 1

Fatal attraction

Answer 1

• Relationships begin with an attraction to a partner and ends with disillusionment with that quality.
• The cause of the breakdown is contained in its formation
• The same quality that caused you to be attracted to someone in the first place leads to the break up

Question 2

Three main explanations of fatal attraction

Answer 2

• Opposing forces
• Idealisation
• Corresponding weaknesses

Question 3

Opposing forces

Answer 3

-People desire people who are similar to them or complementary, however being more similar may lead to lead complementary and if you attracted to one of these features you may later discover that they lack another quality.

Question 4

Idealisation

Answer 4

• People want to believe that they are in a good relationship, so they tend to explain away their partners faults and mask feelings about unattractiveness
• However once the person finally admits to themselves that the partner has unattractive traits this awareness is particularly acute.

Question 5

Corresponding weakness

Answer 5

• A persons greatest strength is their greatest weakness
• The thing that attracts you to someone is something that stands out the most, and the strength can become unappealing when the flipside becomes clear, e.g laid-back = lazy, hard-working= obsessed with job.

Question 6

Felmlee’s study (1995)

Answer 6

• using open interviews, found that 81/ 301 (=27%) of students showed a pattern of initial attraction to a trait which later became the cause of the relationship breakdown
• She also identified some of the most common dimensions / characteristics involved

Question 7

Most common characteristics involved

Answer 7

• Fun to foolish (Fun, then later lacking maturity)
• Strong to domineering (Opinionated, strong then later dictatorial and forceful)
• Spontaneous to unpredictable (fun and exciting, then later unpredictable or unreliable)

Question 8

Other research

Answer 8

• Felmlee replicated this finding in other studies
• The highest % found was 67% of cases showing evidence of fatal attractions (2006)
• These have used different age groups and different measures e.g. open and close questionnaires

Question 9

Felmlee et al 2004

Answer 9

• Survey using 200 pps who were older than in the 1995 study
• Mean age = 36.5
• The pps were recruited at a swimming club; used a mix of open & closed questionnaires
• Incorporated measures of the Big 5 personality test the best validated personality measure
• They found that a respondents level of initial attraction is positively related to the evaluation of that trait being ‘too much’ for all seven traits.
• Controlling for gender, age, race, relationship status and duration of the relationship

Question 10

Felmlee et al 2004 results summarised

Answer 10

• After accounting for other factors, the more a person is attracted to a given trait in a partner, the more likely is the trait to later be seen as expressed in excess by the partner. This relationship holds for all seven traits.
• using the qualitative data collected with the questionnaire, fatal attractions were identified in 15.5% of relationships

Question 11

Felmlee et al 2004 results figures

Answer 11

-Of the seven trait dimensions determined in the factor analysis, the most common qualities identified as sources of fatal attraction were extraversion (27%), physical attractiveness (21.6%) and agreeableness (18.9%)

Question 12

Conclusions to Felmlee

Answer 12

• The fatal attraction hypothesis seems well supported by Felmlee’s own research
• However there are little replications od her studies by other researchers
• The theory is obviously not meant to hold true for all relationship breakdown, but it does seem to identify a key factor in a significant proportion

Question 13

Methodological evaluation of Felmlee

Answer 13

• Range of data collection (e.g open closed questionnaires variety of types of measures
• Accounted for other factors e.g age, sex race, education
• Accounted for different types of personality traits.
• However studies are mostly conducted by her, minute amount of replication
• Only western samples

Question 14

To what extent the theory is supported by other research

Answer 14

• Whitehouse supports the fact that the trait that annoyed the individual, was the exact opposite trait that was the main reason for attraction.
• Pines also found that the couples therapy said that the traits that attracted them, later became the focus of their problems-However these are not published, quantitative studies and so is marginal evidence

Question 15

Practical application for theory

Answer 15

• It can help couples identify what characteristics of themselves are causing the relationship breakdown
• Can teach people to not be blinded by distinctive characteristics
• Avoid idealising partners