Factors affecting attraction

• Meltzer et al (2014)

  Men find long term relationships more satisfying if their partner is attractive - this was not seen in women
• Cunningham et al (1995)

  men from White, Asian and Hispanic cultures prefer neotenous faces, suggesting universality
• Eastwick et al (2011)

  physical attractiveness is equally important to women but only in short-term relationships
• Palmer & Peterson

  • suggested the Halo effect
  • ppts rated how knowledgable people on images were
  • physically attractive people were rated as more knowledgable
• Dion et al

  physically attractive people are rated as being kinder, stronger, and more successful
• Walster et al

  • tested the matching hypothesis
  • university students went to a dance and were told a computer would match them to their ideal partner
  • they were actually matched randomly
  • people who were considered attractive were liked more
  • refutes the matching hypothesis
• Murstein (1972)

  99 real couples had similar ratings of physical attractiveness
• Aaron et al (1997)

  • students were paired with someone they didn't know
  • they were given 15 minutes to get to know each other

  condition 1 - 36 questions increasing in self disclosure

  condition 2 - regular small talk

  • people in condition 1 reported higher post-interaction closeness
• Hass & Stafford (1998)

  some gay couples view self disclosure as the most important strategy in maintaining relationships
• Collins & Miller (1994)

  we self disclose more to people we initially like, and like others more as a result of self disclosure
• Sprecher et al (2013)

  • students had a conversation over Skype
  • they assessed: how much they liked each other, how close they felt, and how much they enjoyed the interactions
  • when they took it in turns to self disclose, the measures all correlated, suggesting the importance of reciprocity
• Gruber-Baldini et al

  • longitudinal study of 169 couples
  • investigated role of social demography
  • couples are more likely to stay together if they were similar in age and education
• Kerchoff & Davies (1962)

  • 94 couples answered 2 questionnaires, and another one after 7 months
  • short term relationships - similarity of attitudes was more important
  • long term relationships - complementarity was more important