factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships

Question 1

what is self-disclosure?

Answer 1

the extent to which a person reveals intimate personal information about themselves to another person

Question 2

why is self-disclosure important in relationships?

Answer 2

as greater disclosure leads to greater feelings of intimacy and attraction

Question 3

what is social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor 1973)?

Answer 3

the gradual process of revealing your innermost core self to someone else by gradually ‘penetrating’ into each others’ lives. doing this shows trust and a better understanding of each other

Question 4

what is breadth?

Answer 4

it’s narrow as lots of topics are ‘off limits’ and too much self disclosure too early can threaten a relationship as it may appear inappropriate. this element is superficial

Question 5

what is depth?

Answer 5

it’s limited as initially only ‘low risk’ information will be shared. as the relationship develops more intimate details will be disclosed. this element is superficial

Question 6

what is reciprocity (reis and shaver 1988)?

Answer 6

• argue that self disclosure must be a two way process if the relationship is to develop.
• when someone discloses highly personal info, it is hoped that the response is understanding and their partners own personal thoughts and feelings
• this balance increases their intimacy and deepens the relationship

Question 7

what is supporting evidence for self disclosure by laurenceau (2005)?

Answer 7

• asked pets to keep daily diary entries reporting on self disclosures. partner disclosures and the degree of intimacy they felt
• found self disclosure was linked to higher levels of intimacy in long-term married couples
• reverse is also true - less intimate couples self disclosed less often
• suggests that the theory of self disclosure as a factor affecting attraction is valid

Question 8

what are the real life applications for self disclosure?

Answer 8

• can be used deliberately in marriage counselling, or to help improve social skills
• can have a positive impact in real life in a number of areas strengthening romantic and platonic relationships

Question 9

what is a limitation of self disclosure theory?

Answer 9

• its a ethnocentric theory based western cultural values that doesn’t generalise well to other cultures, for example:
• Americans self disclosure more than Chinese or Japanese (Chen, 1995)
• Japanese women prefer a lower of level os personal disclosure than japans men (Nakanishi 1986) which contrasts western patterns of women preferring to self disclose more than men

Question 10

what is physically attractiveness?

Answer 10

buss (1989) argued that men in particular place great importance on physical attractiveness when choosing a mate because it’s an important cue to woman’s health and fertility

Question 11

what features are males more attracted to?

Answer 11

females with neotenous (baby face) features (large eyes, small nose and a delicate chin).

Question 12

how could attraction to these features be explained?

Answer 12

could be explained by evolution, males are attracted to characteristics that suggest youthfulness in females as it means reproductive success is more likely

Question 13

why is face symmetry important to both sexes?

Answer 13

it means greater attractiveness. it may be an honest signal of genetic fitness. anything less than perfect symmetry indicates some kind of dysfunction, however small.

Question 14

what is the matching hypothesis?

Answer 14

people tend to look for partners who are roughly of similar physical attractiveness to themselves, a match.

Question 15

how does the matching hypothesis work?

Answer 15

• individuals must first assess their own attractiveness and make a realistic judgement about their own value to a potential partner
• select best candidates who would be most likely to be attracted to them and reciprocate their affection
• the best candidate may not be the most attractive option, but a compromise to ensure a successful outcome

Question 16

what is the research into physical attractiveness by walster (1966)?

Answer 16

• advertised a ‘computer dance’ for US students
• when they came to collect their tickets 4 student accomplices covertly rated each one for physical attractiveness
• the ppts were asked to complete a questionnaire and told the data would be used to allocate their ideal partner for the dance, pairing was actually random
• they completed a questionnaire about their date

Question 17

what were the findings of walster’s research?

Answer 17

regardless of their own physical attractiveness they responded more positively to physically attractive dates and were more likely to try to arrange dates with them. personality and intelligence didn’t affect liking the dates. the study supports physical attractiveness affecting attraction

Question 18

what is a negative of walster’s study?

Answer 18

it doesn’t support the matching hypothesis as their own physical attractiveness didn’t affect the findings

Question 19

what was walster and walster’s follow up study (1969)?

Answer 19

• ppts met before the computer dance and given a choice of who would be their partner
• made circumstances more similar to life where people have more control over who is their partner
• the findings did support matching hypothesis, as ppts did prefer someone who matched their own perceived physical attractiveness

Question 20

how is the theory of physical attractiveness reductionist?

Answer 20

• explains behaviour on a genetic level (how genes are programmed to respond to other’s genes) and therefore biologically reductionist
• ignores other factors like behaviours resulting from social interaction

Question 21

what would be a less reductionist theory?

Answer 21

• complex matching: people come to a relationship offering many desirable qualities, physical attractiveness is only one
• compensate lack of physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities like kindness, humour, money etc.
• this is more holistic as it takes more different levels of behaviour into account

Question 22

what did kerckhoff and davis (1962) study and discover?

Answer 22

• student couples in short term relationships of fewer than 18 months
• several important criteria people use to choose a partner. call these ‘filters’ as they help people sift through all potential partners to find the right one

Question 23

what is filter theory?

Answer 23

suggest people develop relationships by applying a series of filters, such as similarity of social demographic factors and attitudes and complimentary of needs

Question 24

what are sociodemographic characteristics?

Answer 24

physical proximity, level of education, social class, religion, and other important factors people are likely to pay attention to when we are meeting a person for the first time

Question 25

why are sociodemographic characteristics important?

Answer 25

people are more likely to build a relationship with people geographically close, and who they can meet with frequently. also, similarities in education, social class and religion can be found attractive as this gives them assurance that things can move forward

Question 26

what is similarity of attitudes in filter theory?

Answer 26

people view others as more attractive if they share the same common beliefs and values, such as views on career and importance of family

Question 27

what did byrne (1997) say about similarity of attitudes?

Answer 27

presence or absence of similarities is discovered through self disclosure, which leads to greater feelings of intimacy in a couple. little in common rarely develops.

Question 28

what is complimentary?

Answer 28

each of the partners having some traits that the other partner lacks and helping each other to fulfil their needs. this is important for long term relationships

Question 29

what is an example of complimentary?

Answer 29

one person may enjoy being social and meeting new people where as the other may enjoy being introduced to people, thus complimenting each other

Question 30

what is the research support for filter theory by gruber-baldini (1995)?

Answer 30

• carried out a longitudinal study of couples aged 21
• found those who were in similar educational level and age at the start of the relationship were more likely to stay together and have a successful relationship
• shows importance of sociodemographic factors (age and location) supporting the idea that people are more likely to meet and build relationships with these factors present

Question 31

what is davis and rusbult (2001) contradicting research findings?

Answer 31

attitudes in long term couples become aligned with time, suggesting that similarity of attitudes is an effect of attraction rather than a cause. filter theory claims people need similar attitudes from the Strat to develop a relationship

Question 32

why does filter theory lack temporal validity?

Answer 32

particularly with levels of sociodemographic characteristics due to the internet. proximity is no longer an initial requirement for dating as many successful relationships start out as long distance