Relationships - Factors affecting attraction: Filter Theory Flashcards
Who developed the Filter theory?
Kerckhoff and Davis
What does the filter theory suggest?
That there is a field of availables which is then narrowed down into a field of desirables
What are the three main filters called?
Social demography
Similarity in attitudes
Complementarity
Explain social demography as a filter
Two people sharing similar social demographic features are more likely to find each other attractive. Social demographics include= religion, sexuality, ethnicity, social class and proximity. Proximity is important because accessibility can make communication and relationship formation easier. Close proximity can ‘trump’ dissimilarities in other SD features.
Explain similarity in attitudes as a filter
This is important in short term relationships. Having similar core beliefs about important topics such as sex, love and religion.
Explain complementarity as a filter
Particularly important in long-term relationships. A relationship is more likely to be successful if two people feel that they ‘complete’ each other to form a ‘whole’. Think of ‘opposites attract’.
What are the limitations of filter theory?
- FT may have been considered a valid explanation for relationship formation but only before the increased use of the internet and online dating.
- Attitudes and social demography changes over time
- Research focusing on how much someone is liked, not their level of attractiveness
What are the strengths of filter theory?
+ There is evidence to support that FT is an important predictor of the progression and initial development of a relationship as suggested by Winch. Initial similarities in beliefs and attitudes were cited as one of the main attractive features of the partners of respondents.
What was Kerchoff and Davis’ procedure?
- Longitudinal study of 94 dating couples
- Each partner in the couple completed two
questionnaires assessing the degree to which they
shared attitudes and values and the degree of need
complementarity. - 7 months after the initial testing, the couples
completed a further questionnaire assessing how
close they felt to their partner compared to how they
felt at the beginning of the study - The researchers believed this would indicate ‘progress
towards permanence’ in the relationship
What were Kerckhoff and Davis’ findings?
In the initial analysis of the results, only similarity appeared to be related partner closeness . However when the researchers divided the couples into short-term and long-term , a difference emerged. For the short-term couples, similarity of attitudes and values was the most significant predictor of how they felt to their partner. For long term couples, only complementarity of needs was predictive of how close each individual felt to their partner.
Explain why there is a lack of research support for filter theory
Levinger failed to replicate the results of the Kerckhoff and Davis study. In their study, 330 couples who were ‘steadily attached’ went through the same procedure as in Kerckhoff and Davis study . There was no evidence that either similarity of attitudes and values or complementarity of needs influenced progress towards permanence in relationships . They also found no significant relationship between the length of couples’ relationships and the influence of these different variables. Levinger suggests that why their research failed to replicate the findings of K&D is because the questionnaires used in the original study (the FIRO-B and the Index of Value Consensus) would not have been appropriate given the changed in social values and courtship patterns that had occurred in the intervening years between the two studies.
Why is the filtering process really valuable?
Duck suggests that the real value of the filter provess is that it allows people to make predictions about their future interactions and so avoid investing in a relationship that ‘won’t work’. Duck claims that people use a variety of different strategies to gather information about each other , including encouraging a partner’s self-disclosure through questioning . Based on these exchanges , partners may decide to continue with a relationship or make a decision that it will not work and so end the relationship before becoming too deeply involved with the other person. Filtering, therefore stops people from making the wrong choice and then having to live with the consequences
Why might complementarity of needs not be that important?
Support for the importance of complementarity of needs is much scarcer than support for the ‘similarity of attraction’ aspect of Kerckhoff and Davis’ theory. For example, Dijkstra and Barelds studied 760 college-educated singles on a dating site who were looking for a long-term partner. Participants’ own personalities were measured and they were then asked to rate personality characteristics they desired in an ideal mate . The researchers found that although initially participants indicated they desired a complementary partner rather than a similar one, there were strong correlations between individual’s own personality and their ideal partner’s personality. This lent support to the similarity-attraction hypothesis rather than the complementarity of needs hypothesis.
Explain a problem for filter theory
Kerckhoff and Davis’ assumption that relationships progress when partners discover shared attitudes and values with their partner is problematic because these are constantly changing over time - they do not stay the same and in many instances, people are not aware of their partner’s values , needs or role preferences .
For example, Thornton and Young-DeMarco found evidence of changed attitudes in young American adults over a period of a few decades . This included a more relaxed attitude towards cohabitation and more egalitarian attitudes towards gender roles in marriage.
