Filter Theory of Attraction

• Kerchkoff and Davis (1962)

  There are 3 levels of filters which include social demography, similarity and attitudes and complementarity. Each of these filters assume greater or less importance at various stages of a relationship.
• Social Demography


  focuses on individuals are realistically likely to be able to meet and have the possibility of having something in common with them. This limits peoples options to those they are in proximity to which makes them more accessible. 
• Factors influencing social demography

  • social class
  • level of education
  • ethnicity
  • religion
  • who we work with

  enough that we can build meaningful interactions with them as social circumstances can limit us meeting people that are too dissimilar to our lifestyle. 
• homogamy

  means you are likely to form relationships with people who are socially and culturally similar. Such individuals will appear more attractive as communication becomes easier due to these similarities and this helps the development of the relationship.
• Social demography narrows down prospective partners leaving those who have social and cultural characteristics which are in common with our own.
• Similiarity in attitudes

  • particularly important in short-term relationships i.e. less than 18 months in duration.
  • Describes basic similarities in terms of core beliefs about significant topics, such as love and religion
  • Large dissimilarities in the attitudes expressed between two partners may cause the relationship to end, because of the incompatability that would result in the long-term.
• Byrne (1997): similarity in attitudes

  referred to this as the law of attraction and frequent interaction exposes one another to their values, beliefs and attitudes and those who have similar to our own are likely to be deemed more attractive.
• Complementarity

  the ability of romantic partners to meet one another’s needs with the focus on emotional needs. This could be through one partner having traits the other lacks or looks for in a relationship and this helps make the relationship “deeper”. 
• Kerckhoff and Davis suggest complementarity was more important in long-term relationships as opposites attract and because it made two individuals feel complete or “whole” together.
• Anderson (2003)

  longitudinal study found that cohabiting partners became more similar in their emotional responses over time and they referred to this as emotional convergence. 
• Rusbult (2001)

  discovered an “attitude alignment” affect in longterm relationships where partners bring their attitudes inline with one another which again suggests that similarity of attitudes is an effect of the relationship rather than a cause which undermines filter theory.
• Lacks temporal validity

  Filter theory may have been considered a valid explanation for relationship formation, but only before the increased use of the Internet and online dating. Such technological advances mean that our 'field of desirables' is further increased because we are not restricted by certain social demographics, such as proximity and social class or culture, because we have the ability to communicate with potential partners before meeting them and potentially starting a relationship.
• evidence to support filter theory suggested by Winch (1958)

  found that initial similarities in beliefs and attitudes were cited as one of the main attractive features in the partners of respondents, which is in line with the predictions made by the matching hypothesis, as well as increasing the validity of filter theory as a way of narrowing the field of availables down to a field of desirables.