Relationships Flashcards
What are three factors affecting attractiveness?
= filter theory , self - disclosure , physical attrcativeness.
What is self disclosure? (a01)
=Altman and Taylor (1973) suggested the Social Penetration Theory (SPT) of how relationships develop.
The idea is that the more we self-disclose personal information about yourself to another, the more we find someone attractive and the greater the development of an intimate romantic relationship. - It suggests that it is a gradual process of revealing your inner thoughts and feelings to someone. As a relationship progresses, self-disclosure becomes deeper leading to deeper attraction. They add breadth and depth to the amount of self-disclose.
What is one strength of self disclosure? (evidence - sprecher)
There is evidence to support self-disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationship.
E: Sprecher and Hendrick (2004) looked at heterosexual couples and found strong correlations in relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure. They found that men and women who used self-disclosure that was reciprocal were more committed and satisfied with their romantic relationship. Another
What is physical attraction as an theory of attraction?
Physical attractiveness is based on evolutionary theories that physical attractiveness is displayed by the symmetry of people’s faces and we find this attractive. This is because symmetry indicates good genes and health.
What is the matching hypothesis?
The matching hypothesis states that people choose romantic partners who are roughly of the same attractiveness to each other.
To do this we have to make a realistic judgement of our ‘value’.
So we want the most physically attractive partner, but we have to weigh up our own value to avoid rejection by going for someone ‘who is out of our league’.
Also we don’t want to be with someone more physically attractive than ourselves as we are fearful that they will leave us for someone else who is more similar to them in physical attractiveness.
What is one strength of the matching hypothesis? (Murstein - weakness individual differences)
There is evidence to support physical attractiveness as a factor affecting attraction.
E: Murstein (1972) asked participants to assess the physical attractiveness levels of genuine couples and non-genuine couples from photographs. It was found that the real couples were more likely to be judged as similar attractive levels than non-real couples
