Factors Affecting Attraction in Romantic Relationships

• What do evolutionary theories overlook regarding partner preference?

  Social and cultural factors
• How have partner preferences changed over the past century?

  They have been influenced by changing social norms
• What has contributed to the rapid development of partner preferences compared to evolutionary timescales?

  Cultural factors like contraception availability
• What is the impact of women's greater role in the workplace on their dependence on men?

  Women are less dependent on men for support
• What do Bereczkei et al. argue about women's mate preferences?

  They may no longer be resource-oriented
• What is the likely outcome of partner preferences today according to the study material?

  A combination of evolutionary and cultural influences
• What is the limitation of any theory that fails to account for both evolutionary and cultural influences?

  It provides a limited explanation
• Physical attractiveness AO3 - Cross-cultural theory

  • Cunningham - found female features of large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated as highly attractive by white, hispanic and asian males
  • Wheeler and Kim - found Korean and American students judged physically attractive people to be more trustworthy and friendly
  • This shows the idea of physical attractiveness is just as strong in collectivist cultures than individualist and is cross-cultural
  • Implies physical attractiveness may have evolutionary roots as a signal of genetic fitness (Symmetrical face)
• Physical attractiveness AO3 - Halo effect support

  • Palmer and Peterson - physically attractive people were rated to be more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people even though they didn't have any specific experience/expertise - demonstrates how strong the halo effect is
  • Existence of the halo effective has been evident in areas of everyday life, demonstrating how physical attractiveness is an important factor in forming relationships
• Physical attractiveness AO3 - Matching hypothesis contradiction

  • Markey and Markey - suggested people are attracted to partners who have similar psychological traits such as attitudes and values instead of just physical attractiveness
  • Found when young people described their ideal partner, their descriptions were very similar to descriptions of their own psychological characteristics
  • Means matching hypothesis may not explain attraction for all relationships and perhaps it should be amended to include matching on other factors such as education and social class
• What is self-disclosure in relationships?

  Revealing personal information to build trust
• How does self-disclosure affect relationship satisfaction?

  It leads to greater intimacy and satisfaction
• What is the reciprocal nature of self-disclosure?

  One partner discloses, the other should reciprocate
• Why is balance important in self-disclosure?

  It increases feelings of intimacy between partners
• What does Social Penetration Theory describe?

  How relationships develop through self-disclosure
• What is meant by 'breadth' in Social Penetration Theory?

  Sharing superficial aspects of oneself
• What does 'depth' refer to in Social Penetration Theory?

  Sharing deeper, more personal topics
• What happens if someone discloses too much too early?

  It is unlikely to be reciprocated by the partner
• What might occur if there is too little self-disclosure at the beginning?

  The other person may not perceive it as romantic
• How does trust affect breadth and depth in self-disclosure?

  As trust builds, both breadth and depth increase
• Self-disclosure AO3 - Research support

  • Has and Hartford - 57% of gay men and women considered open self-disclosure as a main way to maintain close relationships
  • Has led to strong everyday life applications - could help improve partners’ communication skills in intimate relationships
  • Therapists can deliberately and skillfully increase self-disclosure, thus allowing couple to achieve higher intimacy and relationship satisfaction
  • Shows social penetration theory has a practical application in that it can be used to enhance romantic relationship experiences
• Self-disclosure AO3 - Cultural differences

  • Developed based on research in a Western, individualist culture, so it may not apply to collectivist cultures
  • Tang et al - found that men and women in the USA tended to disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than romantic partners in China however the level of relationship satisfaction was high in both cultures
  • This shows that self-disclosure is not a requirement for successful relationships in all cultures, making the theory culturally biased
• Self-disclosure AO3 - Correlational research

  • Most support for the concept of self-disclosure comes from correlational research
  • While there is undoubtedly a link between self-disclosure and greater relationship satisfaction, cause and effect cannot be established
  • The direction of causation may be the other way around - as partners become more satisfied with their relationship, this causes them to disclose more deeply and broadly
  • Most of the research cannot demonstrate sound evidence that self-disclosure causes relationship satisfaction
• What is the definition of filter theory?

  A sociological theory for partner selection
• Who developed the filter theory?

  Kerckhoff and Davis
• What are the main components of filter theory?

  1. Social demography
  2. Similarity of attitudes
  3. Complementarity
• What does social demography in filter theory refer to?

  Constraints on partner choices due to social circumstances
• How does social demography narrow the realistic field of potential partners?

  By discounting those who are too different
• What is the term for forming relationships with socially or culturally similar individuals?

  Homogamy
• Why do people find similarities in education and social class attractive?

  They provide reassurance for relationship progression
• What is the significance of similarity of attitudes in relationships?

  It makes others more attractive based on shared beliefs
• Who noted the importance of similarity of attitudes in early relationships?

  Byrne
• When is similarity of attitudes especially important according to Byrne?

  In the first 18 months of a relationship
• How is the presence or absence of similarities discovered in relationships?

  Through self-disclosure leading to intimacy
• What does complementarity refer to in long-term relationships?

  Partners fulfilling each other's needs with different traits
• Filter Theory AO3 - Causation

  • Kerckhoff and Davis suggested that similarity of social backgrounds, interests etc causes attraction however some researchers claim this direction of causality should be reversed
  • Anderson et al - from results of longitudinal study, partners in long term relationships become more alike over time rather than being similar from the start
  • Suggests that similarity of attitudes is an effect of attraction rather than a cause
  • This contradicts the claims that people need to have similar attitudes from the start for relationships to develop
• Filter Theory AO3 - Research support

  • Gruber-Baldini et al carried out a longitudinal study of couples aged 21 and found that those who were similar in educational level and age at the start of the relationship were more likely to stay together and have a successful relationship
  • Demonstrates the importance of sociodemographic factors such as age and location, supporting the idea that people are more likely to meet and build relationships with people who are geographically close and share similarities in terms of age, education etc.
• Filter Theory AO3 - Culture bias

  • Individualist cultures value free choice in relationships
  • In these cultures people may apply the criteria described by the Filter Theory freely and usually without much influence from other people
  • However this is not the case in collectivist cultures, where it is common for romantic relationships to be arranged so partners are not free to apply individual filters to select their future spouse
  • This means that Filter Theory suffers from culture bias as it assumes that the rules of partner choice in Western cultures apply to relationships universally