filter theory

• • Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) proposed a theory that suggests how people select partners from a range of those who are potentially available to them (a field of availables).
  • People will use three filters to "narrow down" the choice to those who they have the best chance of a sustainable relationship with.
  • The filter model speaks about three "levels of filters" which are applied to partners:
  • Social Demography
  • Similarity in Attitudes
  • Complementarity of Needs
• social demography

  refers to variables such as age, social background and location, which determine the likelihood of individuals meeting in the first place
• similarity in attitudes

  if people share similar attitudes, values + beliefs, communication is easier and a relationship is likely to progress
• complementarity of needs

  refers to how well two people fit together as a couple and meet each other's needs
• There is research support for filter theory.

  • Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) conducted a longitudinal study of 94 dating couples at Duke University.
  • Each person completed two questionnaires assessing the degree to which they shared attitudes and also the degree of need complementarity.
  • They were given a third questionnaire seven months later assessing how close they felt to their partner compared to the beginning of the study.
  • In the initial analysis, only similarity appeared linked to closeness.
  • However, when couples were divided into short- and long-term couples, similarity only applied to short term couples and complementarity was closely linked with closeness in the long-term couples.
• research support for the importance of similarity in relationships

  • Tidwell et al. (2013) Examined the different impacts of perceived similarity compared to actual similarity, sing a speed dating exercise
  • They found that perceived but not actual similarity was a better predictor for liking in couples
  • This suggests that (perceived) similarity is an important filter in the development of relationships
• However, aspects of filter theory may lack temporal validity

  • Rosenfeld and Thomas (2019) found that in 2017 39% of heterosexual couples (and higher proportions of same sex-couples) reported meeting their partner online
  • Meeting people online makes social demography (especially the geographical proximity aspect) less of an important filter
• filter theory may be reductionist

  • Reducing attraction to a series of filters limits the range of real-life romantic experiences it can explain
  • For example, 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
  • Also, whereas Kerchoff and Davis assumed that it took 18 months to form a long-term' relationship (complementarity stage), Orth and Rosenfeld (2017) found that gay men established committed relationships in only 6 months on average.