factors affecting attraction Flashcards
what are self disclosure a01 points
self disclosure definition
social penetration theory
onion analogy
breadth and depth of self-disclosure
self disclosure definition
-revealing info about yourself
-as relationship develops, partners reveal more about themselves
-deep thoughts strengthen bond in romantic relationships when used appropriately
social penetration theory
-gradual process of revealing info about inner self
-romantic-involves reciprocal exchange of info between partner
-one partner reveals personal info and then other reveals sensitive info
-when info exchanged, signalling ‘i trust you’
-as go further, sensitive info revealed
-disclose more means penetrating more into each others lives
onion analogy
-relationship progresses, more layers of onion removed
-represents deeper and more meaningful info
-only occurs if info is reciprocal
-deep exchanges make more serious relationships by trust
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breadth + depth of self-disclosure
both increase, relationship become more commited to each other
-at start, what we reveal is superficial, on surface like outer layers of skin
-low risk info which we would reveal to anyone
-breadth disclosure is narrow as most topics off limit at early stages
-reveal to much too soon, TMI might threaten relationship
-as relationship gets deeper, self disclosure deeper as reveal more
-cover wide range of topics
-eventually able to reveal high risk info e.g past painful experiences
a03 points for self-disclosure
strength-support research studies
weakness-support research studies
weakness-cultural differences
weakness- support from research studies
-speecher and Hedrick studied heterosexual dating couples
-found strong positive correlation between satisfaction and self-disclosure
-men and women who used self-disclosure and those thought partner did likewise, more satisfied and committed in relationship
-weakness as correlation does not establish cause+effect
weakness-cultural differences
-social penetration theory not applicable to all cultures
-Tang et al concluded men and women in us (individualist) self disclose more sexual thoughts then china (collectivist)
-weakness as not generalisable to all cultures
-limited explanation of romantic relationships
physical attractiveness a01 points
shackleford and Larsen-symmetrical face no baby face
-mcnulty et al-important all the way till marriage
-halo effect
-matching hypothesis
physical attractiveness
-shackelford and larson
-found people with symmetrical faces rated as more attractive
-may be signal of genetic fitness(difficult to fake it)
-people attracted to baby face features e.g separated large eyes, small chin and small nose
-these trigger caring and protective instinct valuable for women wanting to reproduce
-mcnutley et al found that initial attractiveness continued to be an importation feature in relationship even up to several years of marriage
halo effect
-tendnacy to associate attractive people with preconceived disproportinately postive characteristics e.g wealth
-even tho not linked
-more likely to view attractive people as kind, sociable rather then unattractive people
-what is beautiful is good
-belief good looking people probs have these characteristics making them even more attractive so we believe positively towards them-self fulfilling prophecy
the matching hypothesis
-key to successful relationship is striking a balance between attractiveness of a mate and realistic chances of attaining that mate
-states people choose romantic partner who is roughly similar attractiveness to each other
-we desire most psychically attractive people for evolutionary, social, cultural reasons
-however, we balance this against wish to not be rejected by someone out of league or just not thinking we’re physically attractive
-difference between what we would like in ideal partner and what we prepared to settle for
filter theory
(SSC)
-an explanation of relationship formation
-suggest several criteria i.e filters to go through potential partners and find the right one
-these filters include social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementary
social demography
all wide range of factors which influence potential partners from ever meeting each other
these may include
Proximity (geographical location)
social class
level of education
religion
ethnic group
similarity in attitudes
-find partners who share our basic values attractive in early stages of relationships
-tend to discount individuals who differ in attitudes then us
-there is a need for partners to agree with basic values in early stages
-creates stronger and deeper communication and promotes self-disclosure
complementary
-third filter concerns the ability to meet each others needs
-similarity becomes less important as relationship develops
-becomes more important to balance your traits with opposite ones of their own
-e.g. one partner might like making partner laugh, then other likes being made to laugh
social demography
refers to wide range of factors that influence chances of potential partners meeting each other in first place
may include
geographical location (proximity)
social class
level of education
religion
ethnic group
similairty in attitudes
in early stages, we find partners who share our basic values attractive
-we tend to discount avaliable individuals who significantly differ from us
encourges deeeper communication in realtisonship
complementary
concerns the ability of meeting eachother needs in relationship
-similairty becomes less important
-replaced by need for partner ti balance your traits with their own
-e.g one likes making partner laugh, other likes being made to laugh
evolutionery explanations a01 points
sexual selection
evolutionary explanation
inter-sexual selection
intra-sexual selection
sexual selection
-explains why disadvantageous characteristics from evolutionary point of view are still passed on
-because these characteristics may be advantageous for sexual selection
e.g. males being aggressive- have greater chance of protecting female from competing male
-females with characteristic traits of fertaility (large hips, narrow waist)
process determines which genes are passed onto offspring, through process of heredity
evolutionery explanantion
-explains human behaviour in terms of adaptivenss and reporudtive success
-argue that behavioural feature e.g partner selction has been gentically inherited by one generation from another
-must have a specific value for human species
inter sexual selection
-preferred strategy of the female
-quality over quantity approach
-favoured y females as they place more time and energy in upbringing of child compared to males
-female needs to make sure there partner will be the right genetic fit and provides necessary resources to support them and the child
-also, female egg produced in limited numbers
-she will be more selective as to who she mates with as limited reproductive resources
example of inter sexual selection
Fishers sexy sons hypothesis
e.g. height
suggests there son will inherit this ‘sexy’ trait
then son more likely to be selected by successive genrartions of females wjo will mate with her offspring
intra sexual selection
prffered male streatgey
quantitiy over quality
-theirr optimal mating stratgey is to mate with as many fertile female partners as possible
-winner, reproduces and passes on genes to his offsrping
e.g physically stronger larger male, able to fight off his competitors for access to female
will produce physically stronger sons
sperm cell charcteristics
energistically cheap
extremely small
highly mobile
does not rewuire much energy to produce
egg cell characteristics
energetically expensive
relatively large
static
requires lot of energy
a03 for evolutionery explanantions for partner preferneces
strength-supporting research for anigsogamy
strength-research for inter sexual selction
weakness-partner prefernces ignore cultural differences
strength-research support related to anisogamy
-buss
-conduted survey of over 10,000 adults in 33 countries
-asked questions about age and attributes that should be important in parter prefenecs
-results showed
-female mating prefernces=great value on resource, good finacial prospects, hardworking,ambition then males did
-male mating preferences=placed more imoorance on good looks and preffered younger mates more then females did(more fertile)
-strength as 10,000 large sample size
-support predictions about partner prefernces in sexual selection
-findings can be applied hugely across different cultures
strength-supporting research for inter-sexual selection
-clark and Hatfield
-showed females more selective when comes to potential mates
-male and female psychology students sent around uni campus
-asked students one of three questions
-would you go on date with me
-would you go back to my apartment
would you have sex with me
results in males
1.50%
2.69%
3.75%
results in females
1.50%
2.6%
3.0%
supports idea that male wants to impregnate as many females as possiible
due to high sperm production with little energy
-however, criticised, for small sample
only used on undergraduates, not repensitve to all relationsjips
weakness-ignore social and cultural influences
sexual selection
explains how some disadvantageous characteristics from an evolutionary point of view are still passed on
-because characteristics may be advantageous for sexual selection
-e.g. males behaving aggressively
-greater chance of protecting females from competing males
evolutionary explanations
-explains human behaviour in terms of adaptiveness and reproductive success
-argue that if behavioural feature e.g partner selection has been genetically inherited by one generation from another, then it must have specific value for the human species
anisogomy
term given to describe differences between male and female sex cells (gametes)
sperm cell
energetically cheap
extremely small
highly mobile
egg cell
energetically expensive
relatively large
static
inter-sexual selection
-preferred strategy for female
-quality over quantity approach
-favoured by females as place greater investment of time, energy and resources in raising child compared to men
-female needs to be sure partner provides right genetic fit
-resources for raising child
-female selective as to who she mates with as egg cells are produced in limited numbers
e.g fighers sexy sons hypotheies
e.g height
if male has height can then give to son to help with women
intra-sexual selction
-preferred strategy for males
-quantity over quality
-optimal mating strategy is to mate with as many females as possible
-winner reproduces and passes on genes to his offspring
-also being stronger so reduces likehhood that female will be impregnated by another competine male
-also being larger so sexually desirable to women
strength-research supporting evidence for inter-sexual selection
-clark and hatfield
-shows females kore selctive when comes to potential mates
-male and female pshcyology students sent acorss uni campus askign 3 quesions
what were the three questions clark and Hatfield asked
would you go on a date with me
would you go back to my apartemnt
would you have sex with me
results of clark and hatfield study
woudl you go on a date with me 50 50
would you go back to my apartment 69 6
would you have sex with me 75 0
it is strength beacuse shows men want to impregenet as many women as possible
due to high rates of sperm production
and little energy required
suports women bei g more selective then men
however, very narror smaple criticised
doesnt concludw whether non-student smaple would be as selective
weakness-ignore social and cultural influences
partner prefernces been influenced by chnages of social norms of sexual behaviour
cultural factors-availaibilty of contraception
womens greater role in wokrplace means no longer as depeendent on men
