relationships Flashcards
FILTER THEORY
Factors Affecting Attraction
An explanation of relationship formation.
States that are three factors that act like filters and progressively limit the range of available romantic partners to a much smaller pool of possibilities.
Filters include: social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity.
SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
filter theory
Demographics are features that describe populations; social demographics include geographical location and social class. These filter out a large number of available partners.
Many relationships are formed between partners who share social demographic characteristics.
SIMILARITY IN ATTITUDES
filter theory
We find partners who share our basic values attractive in the earlier stages of a relationship, so we tend to discount available individuals who differ from us in their attitudes.
COMPLEMENTARITY
filter theory
Similarity becomes less important as a relationship develops, and is replaced by a need for your partner to balance your traits with opposite ones of their own.
FILTER THORY
Kerckhoff and Davis (1926)
They devised filter theory as an explanation for how relationships form. Compared attitudes and personalities of student couples in short-term (less than 18 months) and long-term relationships.
Kerckhoff and Davis (1926)
THREE FILTERS
social demography
similarity in attitudes
complementarity
Donn Bryne (1997)
similarity in attitudes
evidence that similarity is attractive. Described the consistent findings that similarity causes attraction as the ‘law of attraction’
Kerckhoff and Davis (1926)
similarity in attitudes
similarity is key for couples who have been together less than 18 months. Partners need to agree with basic values to encourage greater and deeper communication, promoting self-disclosure.
Kerckhoff and Davis (1926)
complementarity
Found the third level of filter is more important for long-term couples, as opposites will eventually attract once they have bonded enough.
Self-Disclosure
Factors Affecting Attraction
Revealing personal information about yourself. Romantic partners reveal more about their true selves as their relationship develops. these self-disclosures about one’s deepest thoughts and feelings can strengthens a romantic bond when used appropriately.
Social Penetration Theory
Altman and Taylor
Factors Affecting Attraction - Self-disclosure
Self-disclosure is a major concept within Altman and Taylor’s social penetration theory of how relationships develop.
The gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else, giving away the deepest thoughts and feelings.
Involves reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners. Revealing personal information is a sign of trust, the other partner must contribute also. As partners disclose more information they gain a greater understand of each other.
Self-disclosure
Reciprocity
Reis and Shaver
For a relationship to develop and increase in breadth and depth there needs to be a reciprocal element to disclosure. There must be a balance of self-disclosure in a successful relationship which results in feelings of intimacy and deepens relationship.
Self-disclosure
Support - Sprecher and Hendrick
Studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure. Men and women and their partners who used self-disclosure were more satisfied and committed to their relationships.
Self-disclosure
Support - Laurenceau
Used a method involving daily diary entries. They found that self-disclosure and the perception of self-disclosure in a partner linked to higher levels of intimacy in long term married couples, reverse was also true.
Supportive research increase confidence of validity in the theory that SD leads to more satisfying relationships.
Self-disclosure
Real Life Applications - Hass and Stafford
Found that 57% of gay men and women believed that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way to they maintained and deepened their committed relationships.
Real-life applications demonstrate the value of the psychological insights.
Self-disclosure
Cultural Differences
Tang et al
USA (individualist culture) self-disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than China (collectivist culture) Both levels of self-disclosure still linked to relationship satisfaction in those cultures.
SD is a limited explanation due to lack of generalisability with various cultures.
Self-disclosure
correlation versus causation
Research support is correlational. Not a valid conclusion to draw; other possible confounding variables.
Self- Disclosure
Breadth and Depth
Altman and Taylor
SD has two elements. At the start, breadth is narrow because there’s many ‘off-limit’ topics in early stages of a relationship. As relationship develops, depth grows.
Physical Attractiveness
Factors Affecting Attraction
The assumption that we seek to form relationships with the most attractive option available.
McNulty et al found evidence that the initial attractiveness that brought the partners together continued to be an important feature of the relationship after marriage, for a east several years.
Physical Attractiveness
What’s Attractive
General agreement within and across cultures about what is considered physically attractive.
Shackelford and Larsen found that symmetrical faces are rated as more attractive; this can be shown as an honest signal of genetic fitness
Neotenous features (baby features) like wide eyes, small nose because it brings about a caring and protective instinct.
Matching Hypothesis
Physical Attractiveness
The belief that we don’t select the most attractive person, rather we are attracted to people who ‘match’ us in in physical attractiveness.
This implies we take into account our own attractiveness ‘value’ to others when seeking romantic partners.
The Halo Effect
Physical Attractiveness
The suggestion that we have preconceived ideas about personality traits attractive people must have, end to be universally positive.
Dion et al supported this physical attractiveness stereotype. Physically attractive people are more often rated as kind, strong, sociable, and successful than unattractive people.
This demonstrates how we have an influence on character dependent on looks proving attractiveness to be a key factor.
Halo Effect
Palmer and Peterson
Found physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and content than unattractive people.
Real life application.
Physical Attractiveness
Limitations
Individual differences - Towhey et al
Physical Attractiveness
Limitations
Individual differences - Towhey et al
Contradictory research - Matching Hypothesis - Taylor et al
