Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships: Flashcards
self-disclosure; physical attractiveness, including the matching hypothesis; filter theory, including social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity.
what are the factors affecting attraction?
self-disclosure
filter theory
matching hypothesis and physical attractiveness
define attraction
the action or power of evoking interest in or liking for someone or something
what is self-disclosure?
when people reveal information about themselves to another person
we tend to disclose more information to those we like and we tend to like people who reveal information about themselves to us more as it indicates trust that the information will stay between the individuals
what is social penetration theory?
Altman and Taylor suggest that as the relationship between individuals develops, the breadth and depth of interpersonal communication increases from shallow levels to become more intimate
define breadth
the types of topics that can be discussed, certain areas may not be appropriate until a certain level of friendship
define depth
level of information about a topic that is revealed such as information that is emotionally painful
how might a relationship develop through self-disclosure
if both individuals are active in both disclosing information and responding in an appropriate way
how might self-disclosure make someone seem less attractive?
individuals consider the motivations behind self-disclosure: if you disclose information to anyone you may be seen as less attractive than someone who discloses to you because they see you as special
you may be seen as less attractive if you disclose too much information too early or break social norms by disclosing something you shouldn’t have
research evidence supporting self-disclosure - student dating
used a longitudinal observational study watching couples self-disclose on dates
found men and women had similar levels of self-disclosure
found a positive correlation between amount of self-disclosure and measures of quality within the relationship (e.g. higher satisfaction, more love and commitment)
suggests self-disclosure is reciprocal with both partners equally sharing information
higher levels of self-disclosure linked to level of attractiveness felt towards a romantic partner
-: correlational research cannot establish causal link
we assume self-disclosure causes attraction but we may self-disclose more to people we are attracted to or a third factor may impact self-disclosure like shared interest may increase disclosure and attraction
evaluations of self-disclosure
+- women thought to be better communicators and more willing to share information - may suggest stronger relationships - BUT this could be alpha bias as research shows self-disclosure was equal
- culturally bias - reflection of individualistic western ideas - study found that people in collectivist society like China have higher relationship satisfaction with lower levels of disclosure
what makes someone more physically attractive?
evolutionary explanation would suggest if they have physical indications of health, facial symmetry and resources that indicate good genes as we want the best genes for our offspring
what is the Halo effect?
people with physical characteristics of physical attractiveness and also assumed to be successful in other areas of life e.g. intelligent, hardworking, sociable
this can result in others interacting more positively towards them and may even result in being given more opportunities to become successful
what is the Matching Hypothesis?
as we cannot all mate with the most attractive members of the population, we choose our mate due to these factors:
- realistically appraise our own attractiveness in relationship to others
- look for romantic partners who are at a similar level of attractiveness
- avoid the pain of rejection by not chasing partners we see as ‘too attractive’ for us
- or avoid pain of someone leaving us for someone more attractive by not choosing partners that are ‘too attractive’ retain our partners by not choosing someone who will leave us for someone else
research evidence to support the matching hypothesis
Murstein used photographs of 197 couples
asked 8 judges to rate individual photographs according to attractiveness
found photographs of couples were consistently given a similar attractiveness rating compared to randomly matched pairs
suggests that individuals select partners who they deem a similar attractiveness level as themselves - supports matching hypothesis
+: Feingold used a meta-analysis - found an overall positive correlation in the attractiveness ratings of couples
evaluations of the matching hypothesis
- shallow explanation of how humans select a mate - assumes attractiveness is the most important factor but ignores other factors like personality and life goals which many people would say they look for more than attraction
+- physical factors may be more important in initial attraction but become more limited as the relationship progresses - social exchange theory may be a better explanation for long-term
+- more valid - online dating sites heavily depend on physical attractiveness - however this may be used for short term relationships more than long term
+ halo effect appears beyond romantic relationships e.g. people more attractive are more likely to get promotions or jobs
+ supported by study that found that defendants in court who are attractive are more likely to receive lower sentences for their crimes indicating attractiveness implies innocence
