R - Factors affecting attraction Flashcards
What is the social penetration theory?
- Social penetration theory involves the reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners
- Based on the idea that self-disclosure displays trust in the other person through vulnerability
- As they increasingly disclose more and more information to each other, romantic partners ‘penetrate’ more deeply into each others lives
What is self-disclosure?
The process of passing on information about yourself to someone else
What are the two elements of self-disclosure in the social penetration theory?
- Breadth (range) and depth
- Well-timed and gradual
- Refers to the timing of self-disclosure. Initially, romantic partners should reveal low-risk, ‘surface level’ (superficial) information
- Topics could be ‘off limits’ and revealing too much about yourself can ‘put-off’ too quickly can prevent relationships from forming
- Onion Metaphor - As the relationship develops, self-disclosure becomes deeper, progressively removing more and more layers to reveal our true self
Why is reciprocity of self-disclosure important according to the social penetration theory?
Once you have disclosed something that reveals your true self, your partner should respond in a way which is rewarding, which involves understanding and sharing their own intimate thoughts and feelings. This will increase the general feelings of intimacy which will deepen the relationship.
Positive evaluation of the Social Penetration Theory
- Supporting research studies have found a strong correlations between intimacy levels and disclosure-levels in heterosexual dating couples
- Strong real-life application: 57% of gay couples with high intimacy levels said that self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their relationships
- Application to relationship counselling
Negative evaluation of the Social Penetration Theory
- Much research on self-disclosure is correlation not cannot provide a justified causation
- Third variable problem (e.g. age difference between couples)
What is the halo effect in relation to physical attractiveness?
People who are considered physically attractive are usually assumed to have desirable characteristics (e.g. honesty and friendliness)
What is the matching hypothesis in relation to physical attractiveness?
We tend to choose partners who are of similar level of physical attractiveness to ourselves rather than go for the most attractive thing possible
What is considered to be physically attractive and why may this be?
Symmetrical faces - may be because symmetry is a honest signal of genetic fitness
‘Baby like’ features in females (e.g. big eyes, small nose) - may be because they trigger a caring instinct
Why is physical attractiveness important?
- Attractions is important in forming relationships
- McNulty found evidence that the initial attractiveness that bought partners together continued to be an important feature of the relationship after marriage
What is some research supporting the halo effect?
Palmer and Peterson found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people
Negative evaluation for the importance of attractiveness
- Individual differences: Some people do not seem to attach much importance to physical attractiveness for example: asexuals
- Cultural differences: Different notion of attractiveness e.g. Western=tanned , Eastern=pale
Neck rings in a few African and Asian cultures
However, as a whole their is not much significant difference
Positive evaluation for the importance of attractiveness
- Supporting evidence for the halo effect
- Face-validity (footballers wife)
- Counselling - identify that an individual is over-reaching which is decreasing their chances at a relationship
- General Cultural Relativism: what is considered attractive is relatively consistent as a whole
Evaluation of the matching hypothesis
-The original research failed to confirm the matching hypothesis
- However, later research supports this idea as a meta-analysis found correlation in ratings of attractiveness between partners
What is filter theory?
An explanation of relationship formation that proposes all the romantic partners potentially available to us are reduced by a series of filters to a limited collection of people we would like to form a relationship with
What is the first level of the filter theory
- Social demographic - similarities in religion, social class, education attainment and proximity
- Higher similarity leads to higher attraction
What is the second level of the filter theory?
- Similarity in attitudes
- Important in a relationship especially in the initial stages as similarity encourage deeper disclosure
What is the third level of the filter theory?
- Complementarity
- The idea that couples ‘complete’ each other
- Meeting each others needs becomes more important later in the relationship
Negative evaluation of the filter theory
- In reality, relationships are not restricted by social demographics such as proximity, class and culture. The filter theory has low temporal validity as it can only be applicable to a time before social media and the internet
- The theory cannot account for relationships that define the odds e.g. long-distance couples and completely opposite couples (‘opposites attract’)
What are the three stages of the filter theory and what are they concerned with?
- Stage 1: Social demographic
- Stage 2: Similarity in attitudes
- Stage 3: Compatibility
Positive evaluation of the filter theory
- Face validity as it aligns with common experiences of relationship formation
- Similarities with the matching hypothesis in terms of explanation for initial attraction
Filter theory > social demographic > similar characteristics
Matching hypothesis > settle > similar characteristics
