filter theory

• A holistic approach to studying romantic relationships may be better suited to explaining the complexity of relationships maintenance.
• When choosing a partner, people start by looking at the options that are available, but not everyone who is available will be equally attractive, so people usually apply some criteria to narrow down the 'pool of availabilities' to make sure they choose the right person.
• Filter theory, proposed by Kerckhoff and Davis (1962), suggests that there are several levels of filters that people apply when choosing a partner.
• The first level of filters in filter theory relates to sociodemographic characteristics such as physical proximity, level of education, social class, religion, and other factors that are important when meeting a person for the first time.
• People are more likely to build relationships with people who are geographically close and share similarities in terms of education, social class, and religious beliefs.
• The second level of filters in filter theory relates to similarity of attitudes, where people tend to view others as more attractive if they share the same core beliefs and values, such as views on career and importance of family.
• Byrne (1997) noted that similarity of attitudes is especially important in earlier stages of relationships, for couples who have been together fewer than 18 months.
• Presence or absence of similarities in attitudes is discovered through self-disclosure, which leads to greater feelings of intimacy in a couple.
• If partners have very little in common, relationships rarely develop beyond the first few dates.
• For long-term couples, the third filter in filter theory, complementarity, plays a much more important role.
• Complementarity refers to each of the partners having some traits that the other partner lacks, and helping each other to fulfil their needs.
• Some researchers claim that the direction of causality should be reversed, arguing that the emotional responses of partners in long-term relationships become more alike over time rather than being similar from the start.
• 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.
• Most research supporting the Filter Theory uses participants from individualist, Western cultures.
• The Filter Theory suffers from culture bias, as it assumes that the rules of partner choice in Western cultures apply to relationships universally.
• Some studies have failed to replicate Kerckhoff and Davis’ original findings.
• The Filter Theory does not explain why many people stay a long time in abusive relationships despite the lack of complementarity that is theorised as being a factor of long-term relationships.
• Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) have suggested that similarity of social backgrounds, interests, attitudes and complementarity of needs creates attraction.
• Davis and Rusbult (2001) found that attitudes in long-term couples become aligned with time, suggesting that similarity of attitudes is an effect of attraction rather than a cause.
• Sociodemographic factors, particularly geographical proximity and cultural background, may not play as big a role in the development of relationships nowadays due to the influence of technology.
• Some couples take much longer than 18 months to establish a similarity of attitudes and complimentarity, while others skip sociodemographic filters altogether and feel they are ready to commit to long-term relationships earlier than the 18 month cut-off point.
• Individualist cultures value free choice in relationships, and describe the choice of partners in terms of individual preferences.
• The Filter Theory assumes that people need to have similar attitudes from the start for relationships to develop.
• In these cultures, people may apply the criteria described by the Filter Theory freely and usually without much influence from other people.
• This cut-off point does not apply to all heterosexual couples, nor does it describe the experience of homosexual couples or couples from collectivist cultures.
• Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) and Anderson et al (2003) are looking for causality, where there may only be positive correlation.
• Kerckhoff and Davis set the cut-off point for short-term relationships at 18 months, assuming that if people have been in relationships longer, it signifies greater commitment.
• Psychologists such as Levenger (1974) claim that the difficulty of correlating length of relationships and depth of relationships, and of determining what constitutes short-term and long-term relationships, is a factor in the difficulty of replicating Kerckhoff and Davis’ findings.
• Research support for filter theory includes studies by Winch (1957) and Newcomb (1961), which found that similarity of interests, attitudes, and personality traits were very important for couples in the beginning of relationships, and complementarity of needs had more impact on long-term relationships.
• Gruber-Baldini et al. (1995) 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.
• The importance of sociodemographic factors, similarity of attitudes, and complementarity in developing attraction is something that many people experience in their everyday life, meaning that filter theory has face validity – as people can relate to it with intuitive 'this makes sense' understanding.