Relationships booklet 2: Factors affecting attraction Flashcards
What are the three factors which affect attraction in romantic relationships?
Self-disclosure
Physical attractiveness
Filter theory
What is self-disclosure?
The sharing of personal info to a mate
What did Altman and Taylor suggest?
The Social Penetration Theory
What is the SPT?
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
What did Altman and Taylor suggest about the speed of SPT?
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
What happens as a result of self-disclosure in relationships?
The relationship develops and the partners trust one another
How does Self Disclosure develop through a relationship?
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
What did long term relationships show in self-disclosure?
Breadth (more info) and Depth (deeper secrets)
What part of self-disclosure is required for a successful relationship?
Reciprocity
What are the evaluations of self-disclosure?
😀Evidence to support (Sprecher and Hendrick
😀Practical application
😥Only effective at certain points of relationship
What did Sprecher and Hendricks find?
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
What is physical attractiveness?
-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
What is the halo effect?
We tend to believe that attractive people have more desirable qualities such as being trustworthy and optimistic
What is the matching hypothesis?
-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
Why do we avoid more attractive partners?
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
What are the evaluations of physical attractiveness?
😀Evidence to support (Murstein)
😀Evidence to support (Walster and Walster)
😥Ignores individual differences
😥Evidence to contradict (Taylor)
What was found in Murstein?
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
What was found in Walster and Walster?
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
What did Taylor find?
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
Who proposed filter theory?
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
How does the filter theory work?
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
How many filters does filter theory have?
Three filters that lead to our field of desirables and our most attractive partner
What is filter 1?
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
What is filter 2?
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
What is filter 3?
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
What are the evaluations of filter theory?
😀Evidence to support (Taylor)
😀Evidence to support (Kerchoff and Davis)
😥Lacks temporal validity (developed 1960s)
😥Contradicted by evolutionary explanation
What was found in Taylors study for filter theory?
Found that 85% of Americans who got married in 2008 married someone of their own ethnic group
What was found in Kerchoff and Davis study for filter theory?
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
