factors affecting attraction Flashcards
What are the 3 factors that affect attraction?
Self-disclosure
Physical attraction
Filter theory
Why do we self-disclose in relationships? (2)
To feel intimate with someone
More disclosure=greater feelings of intimacy
What is self-disclousure (SD) ?
Revealing personal information about yourself e.g. thoughts, feelings, beliefs
What is the social penetration theory? (4)
Gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone
We reveal superficial information first -“low risk information”
Moving into intimate details later- “high risk”
Too much too early is off-putting
According to the social penetration theory, what 3 things is needed for self-disclosure?
Breadth (range of topics talked about)
Depth (details of topics talked about)
Reciprocity (returning to the self-disclosure)
Explain the breadth stage for SD (2)
Start of relationship=speak about safe topics
End of relationship=speak about a large range of topics, nothing is off limit
Explain the depth stage for SD (3)
Start of relationship=speak about superficial, low risk info e.g. hobbies
End of relationship=speak about intimate, high risk info e.g. fears/secrets
Too much too soon is off-putting
Explain the reciprocity stage for SD (3)
When one partner discloses something, they display trust in the other
Results in the other feeling trusted and able to reveal something personal or sensative about them
‘Turn taking’
Explain the onion metaphor to self-disclosure
Outer layer=low risk
Inner layer=high risk
E.g.
Basic facts
Interests
Beliefs
Aspirations
Fears
A strength of self-disclosure is that there is research support, explain in PET
Give a furthermore and counterargument
E: Sprecher and Hendrick observed couples on dates and found a close correlation between the amount of satisfaction each person felt, and the overall SD that occured between the partners
T: SD is an important factor affecting attraction
S=High ecological validity, no demand characteristics
W=Experimenter bias (reporting their expectations)
A weakness of self-disclosure is that we do not know the direction of causation, explain in PET
E: We are claiming increased SD causes high satisfaction, however, the direction of causation may be the other way round. As partners become more satisfied with their relationship, it causes them to disclose more deeply
T: Weakens research as we cannot claim for sure that ^ SD leads to ^ satisfactions
A strength of SD is that there is real world application, explain in PET
E: Relationship counselling- if less skilled partners learn to use SD>benefits their relationship
T: SD can benefit couples, overall ^ couples QoL
A weakness of SD is that the nature of SD changes, explain in PET
E: SD may be less appropriate for romantic relationships in culutres where partners are not allowed free choice e.g. arranged marriages. Other factors e.g. status may influence partner choice more than SD
T: SD is culturally biased as it is only true in societies such as Western, where arranged marriages aren’t as prominent
What are the 4 features of physical attraction?
Symmetry
Neotenous (baby-face features e.g. large eyes, small nose)
Halo effect
Matching hypothesis
Why is symmetry attractive?
It is a sign of genetic fitness, related to sexual selection and reproductive behaviour
What is neotenous attractive?
Triggers a protective instinct which is a valuable resources for those wanting to reproduce
What is the research support for neotenous?
What did the researchers conclude?
How is this universal?
Cunningham et al found that female features of large eyes, small nose were rated as highly attractive by white, hispanic, and asian males
What is considered physically attractive is consistent across different cultures (+cross cultural sample)
Applied in both individualistic and collectivist cultures
What is the halo effect?
People who are judged to be attractive are typically perceived in a positive light and attributed personality traits
What is the research support for the halo effect? (2)
Dion et al found that people are consistently rated as successful, kind, and sociable when compared with unattractive people
Palmer and Peterson asked ppts to rate attractive and unattractive people in terms of how knowledgeable they believed them to be -found that unattractive people were consistently rated higher on these characteristics
What is the matching hypothesis?
Why do we do this? (2)
We choose a partner of similar attractiveness to ourselves
-To avoid rejection by someone ‘out of our league’
-We subconsciously have a good idea about our own level of attractiveness
What is the research support for the matching hypothesis?
What is a limitation of this?
Silverman observed in naturalistic settings (bars and restaraunts)
Observed couples were predominately ages 12-22 and unmarried
Observers rated the couples on a 5-point scale
High degree of similarity between the attractiveness of the couple members
- Researchers reporting their expectations
One limitation of physical attraction is that it ignores other factors affecting initial attraction, explain in PET
E: Factors such as intelligence, kindness, education, humour, hobbies may attract or repel a partner
T: Physical attraction is a partial explanation
Explain the contradictory research for the matching hypothesis
*Counter argument
Taylor studied the activity logs of popular online dating site and measured peoples date choices
They found that online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were more physically attractive than them
One limitation of physical attraction is that there is culture bias, explain in PET
E: Most research has been completed in Western societies, which fails to recognise that many forms of the relationship is not governed by physical attraction
E.g. in arranged marriages attractiveness plays a minimal role
T: This explanation cannot be applied across all cultures
