Relationships - Factors affecting Attraction Flashcards
What is attraction?
The interest in and liking another person, or the mutual interest and liking between two or more individuals.
The 4 factors affecting attraction
1) Self-disclosure
2) Physical attractiveness
3) The matching hypothesis
4) Filter Theory
Self-disclosure
- Self-disclosure is the idea that relationship formation is built on trust with another person, which is demonstrated by gradually revealing personal information, such as thoughts, feelings and experiences that they might share with anyone else.
- Disclosing thoughts and feelings and allowing a partner to reveal their ‘true selves’ leads to greater intimacy in romantic relationships, and ultimately to more satisfaction.
- The factors of this self disclosure - appropriateness of information (over the top), their attributions (reasons why), gender (males do this less) and content (social norms)
- Altman and Taylor - key part of Social Penetration Theory; this theory claims that by gradually revealing emotions and experiences and listening to their reciprocal sharing, people gain a greater understanding of each other and display trust which strengthens relationships
The dimensions of social penetration theory in self-disclosure
Self-disclosure has two dimensions: breadth and depth.
- Social Penetration Theory uses an ‘onion metaphor’ to describe these dimensions: at first, people often share a lot of information about certain aspects of themselves (depth), but consider some topics to be ‘off-limit’ (breadth).
- As they build trust in their partner’s understanding, breadth increases and then depth also increases. In the beginning, people only disclose superficial details about themselves, such as their music taste, hobbies and interests, and gradually move to revealing more intimate details, such as religious and political beliefs, family values and difficult experiences
Evidence for self-disclosure
→ Derlega; Maladapted people are seen less favourably
→ Kleinke; Specifically chosen for information makes us special
→ Dindia; Females see disclosure as more of a sign of intimacy
→ Kito; Disclosure is cross cultural in romantic relationships
Evaluating self disclosure
- Most research does not distinguish between romantic and friendly relationships
- Unlikely that partner selection is based on disclosure
+ Increases attractiveness of personality
Physical attractiveness
- Immediate way of assessing people’s partners
- Physical attractive generally assume personality traits (Halo)
- Males - muscularity and symmetry
- Females - youth, slimness and fertility
Evidence:
→ Brigham; Physically attractive peoples are thought to be more sociable and exciting
→ Gunnell; Less attractive people are more likely to be convicted of crimes and given longer sentences
The Matching Hypothesis
- Partners seek those who are most like themselves in levels of attractiveness
- Rejection and stability thought to be less of an issue
Evidence:
→ Walster; Ideal partners at a dance, those at same level were happier
→ Murstein; Photographs of couples who are genuine are more the same
→ Taylor; Online dating sites do not show same results for matching hypothesis
Evaluation of physical attractiveness and matching hypothesis
- Walster’s theory has been disregarded as only looking at physical attractiveness
- Physical attractiveness in the beginning is the best indicator of people wanting to meet
- You can be attractive in other ways
- Evolution suggests men value physical attractiveness more than women
- Arranged marriages are not based on physical attractiveness
Filter Theory
Kerckhoff and Davis:
Choose partners based on factors which ‘narrow the field’:
1) Social demographic variables; Increases communication
2) Similarity of attitudes; Improves compatibility
3) Complementarity; Meeting of needs
Evidence -
→ Festinger. Next to staircase leads to more friends
→ Taylor. 85% Americans married in own ethnic group
→ Sadalla. Women like reliable, self confident men
Evaluation of filter theory
- Changes over time
- Age is a limiting factor not considered
- Research focussing on how much someone is liked, not their level of attractiveness
- Research is culturally biased
Sexual selection documentary
- Imperial College London study - asked two actors to mingle and then ask different people if they would like to sleep with them - it was first carried out in Florida, and it aimed to find out the difference between men and women in their attitudes towards casual sex
- No women said yes to casual sex, but ¾ men said yes to having sex with a stranger - however, only ½ of men agreed to go out for coffee as well
- Biologically, this is because it is the women who carries the baby - in the time taken for an individual women to have one child, a man can father hundreds in that same time; a Moroccan emperor famously had 888 children
- A women may only release around 400 eggs / ovum in her lifetime; in contrast, men produce 300 million sperm in one single ejaculation - because of such a large difference in time commitment, women are naturally more selective
- Factors of sexual selection - physical appearance; women want the best genes for their child, and a man’s body shape is deemed as a good predictor of the strength of their genes (mesomorphs are desirable, with the most important body type being a narrow waist and a broad chest and shoulders, with these signalling strength and good immune system
- In a study involving interviews with some 11-12 year olds just beginning puberty, it was found that many of the girls reported traits similar to strength and good physical appearance being important to their selections for health and good genes, whereas the boys tended to report wanting bigger breasts and curvy bodies as it is seen as a sign of fertility as well as looking for good genes
- In a different study (Roberts), looking at pheromone detection, 6 women were asked to wear a shirt over 2 nights and have a blood test to look for 6 genes that display the type of immune system they have; the man was also tested for these genes, with the hypothesis being that the more genes in common they have, the less attractive they will find each others smells - he was then asked to rate each smell from least to most appealing
- It was found that the smells he liked the most were those who were the most genetically different to him - we have therefore confirmed in the hypothesis that we have the ability to detect compatibility in a partner
Men are always ready to mate as testosterone is always being released into their bloodstream - pupils are the first sign of attraction, dilating when they are attracted to someone; this leads to a dopamine release when this is reciprocated and the increase in the release of pheromones and adrenaline increases, diverting blood from the stomach (butterflies) and increases excitement, pushing blood to our sexual organs and lips with instinct preparing us for sex - Males with resources are also considered to be more attractive - a study in which a man was rated before and after having a makeover to look wealthier saw him be rated more attractive by women when he appeared wealthier
- Males are fertile all the time; in contrast, women are only fertile at some points in their cycle (ovulation), and so men are more likely to stick around to capitalise on fertile days, but women can use their hiding of ovulation to mate with many men
- A study at a Scottish university asked women to describe / create their ideal man at that point in their cycle - the group not ovulating preferred a more feminine man, but the group who were ovulating found more masculine faces attractive - more masculine faces with thicker necks and broader jaws are more indicative of health and strength, and a women’s instinct therefore pushes her to find the best genes for her child, sometimes leading to infidelity if they identify a man during their cycle who has better genes than a partner - ovulation is when a women is most likely to cheat
- 1 European study of homicides found that ⅓ of male perpetrators committed their crimes due to sexual jealousy
