Relationships booklet 2: Factors affecting attraction

Question 1

What are the three factors which affect attraction in romantic relationships?

Answer 1

Self-disclosure
Physical attractiveness
Filter theory

Question 2

What is self-disclosure?

Answer 2

The sharing of personal info to a mate

Question 3

What did Altman and Taylor suggest?

Answer 3

The Social Penetration Theory

Question 4

What is the SPT?

Answer 4

The idea that the more we self-disclose personal info about ourselves to another, the more we find someone attractive and the greater the development of intimacy

Question 5

What did Altman and Taylor suggest about the speed of SPT?

Answer 5

That it is a gradual process of revealing your inner self, including thoughts and feelings. These penetrate more deeply into each other’s lives and find each other more attractive

Question 6

What happens as a result of self-disclosure in relationships?

Answer 6

The relationship develops and the partners trust one another

Question 7

How does Self Disclosure develop through a relationship?

Answer 7

At the start of the relationship, they disclose info that is “low-risk” as the relationship progresses they disclose more info and disclose “high-risk” info such as painful memories and experience

Question 8

What did long term relationships show in self-disclosure?

Answer 8

Breadth (more info) and Depth (deeper secrets)

Question 9

What part of self-disclosure is required for a successful relationship?

Answer 9

Reciprocity

Question 10

What are the evaluations of self-disclosure?

Answer 10

😀Evidence to support (Sprecher and Hendrick
😀Practical application
😥Only effective at certain points of relationship

Question 11

What did Sprecher and Hendricks find?

Answer 11

Looked at hetero couples and found strong correlations in relationships satisfaction and self-disclosure, men and women who reciprocated self-disclosure were more committed and satisfied with relationship

Question 12

What is physical attractiveness?

Answer 12

-Research shows physical attractiveness plays a large role in attraction in romantic relationships
-Highlighted in evolutionary theories that physical attractiveness is displayed by symmetry of people’s faces and we find this attractive

Question 13

What is the halo effect?

Answer 13

We tend to believe that attractive people have more desirable qualities such as being trustworthy and optimistic

Question 14

What is the matching hypothesis?

Answer 14

-Although we find physical attractiveness desirable, we cannot all form relationships with attractive people
-Matching hypothesis states people choose romantic partners of similar attractiveness
-So to do this we make realistic judgement of value

Question 15

Why do we avoid more attractive partners?

Answer 15

We have to weigh up our own value to avoid rejection for going for someone out of our league, and we don’t want to be with someone more physically attractive than ourselves as we’d become more fearful they leave us

Question 16

What are the evaluations of physical attractiveness?

Answer 16

😀Evidence to support (Murstein)
😀Evidence to support (Walster and Walster)
😥Ignores individual differences
😥Evidence to contradict (Taylor)

Question 17

What was found in Murstein?

Answer 17

Asked participants to assess physical attractiveness levels of real couples and non-real couples, was found that real couples more likely to be judged similar attractiveness than fake ones

Question 18

What was found in Walster and Walster?

Answer 18

Told students that they were assigned an ideal partner for a dance, though it was random. Students met up before dance and those paired with partners of similar attractiveness expressed greater liking than those dissimilar

Question 19

What did Taylor find?

Answer 19

Studied activity logs of popular online dating websites, measured actual date choices. Online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were more physically attractive than them, showing they didn’t consider own levels of attractiveness when online

Question 20

Who proposed filter theory?

Answer 20

Kerchoff and Davis, created in a way to explain attractions and how relationships form
Argued that we tend to be attracted to those who pass through a series of filters

Question 21

How does the filter theory work?

Answer 21

The large group of people we could have relationships with are the field of availables
We filter out potential partners for different reasons at different times so the field of availables is narrowed to a field of desirables

Question 22

How many filters does filter theory have?

Answer 22

Three filters that lead to our field of desirables and our most attractive partner

Question 23

What is filter 1?

Answer 23

Social demography:
-We are more attracted to people we come into contact with, we filter out those not in the same demographic
-Most tend to mix with people who are similar, same area, share proximity and similar social class/education/ethnicity and religion
-Our field of potential partners actually comes from a small selection of people who are often similar in educational and economic background

Question 24

What is filter 2?

Answer 24

Similarity in attitude
-More likely to be attracted to people who have similar interests and attitudes as ourselves
-Once two people start going out, the next important filter involves individual characteristics such as attitudes and values
-If couples shares ideas and beliefs, communication should be easier and relationship may progress
-People with different attitudes are likely to be filtered out

Question 25

What is filter 3?

Answer 25

Complementarity:
-We are more likely to find people attractive if the person complements our emotional needs
-Means how well the two fit together and meet each other’s needs
-Example: One enjoys being made laugh and other enjoys making other laugh

Question 26

What are the evaluations of filter theory?

Answer 26

😀Evidence to support (Taylor)
😀Evidence to support (Kerchoff and Davis)
😥Lacks temporal validity (developed 1960s)
😥Contradicted by evolutionary explanation

Question 27

What was found in Taylors study for filter theory?

Answer 27

Found that 85% of Americans who got married in 2008 married someone of their own ethnic group

Question 28

What was found in Kerchoff and Davis study for filter theory?

Answer 28

Conducted a longitudinal study of student couples who had been together for more or less than 18m, asked them to complete several questionnaires over 7 month period. Found that attitude similarity was key factor up to 18 months, and after 18 months psychological compatibility and ability to meet each other’s needs became important