Filter Theory

• Filter 1: Social demography: Although there is a vast range and variety of potential partners, the realistic field is much narrower because our choices are constrained by our social circumstances. Effectively, anyone who is too ‘different’ is discounted as a potential partner.
• Homogamy means that you are more likely to form a relationship with someone who is socially or culturally similar to yourself. People also find similarities in education, social class and religious beliefs attractive, as this gives them assurance that relationships are more likely to move forward.
• Filter 2: Similarity of attitudes. 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 is discovered through self-disclosure, which leads to greater feelings of intimacy in a couple. If partners have very little in common, however, relationships rarely develop beyond the first few date
• Filter 3: complementarity: This applies to longer term relationships (18 months +). Complementarity refers to each of the partners having some traits that the other partner lacks, and helping each other to fulfil their needs. For example, one partner may enjoy meeting new people and being socially proactive, and the other may enjoy being introduced to people rather than initiating social encounters themselves, and thus these two people would complement one other.
• Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) suggested that similarity of social backgrounds, interests, attitudes and complementarity of needs CAUSES attraction (the factor that leads to attraction). However, some researchers claim that this direction of causality should be reversed. Anderson et al. (2003) argued that partners in long-term relationships become more alike over time rather than being similar from the start. This suggests that similarity of attitudes is an effect of attraction rather than a cause.
• A strength of Filter Theory is that it is supported by research studies. For example, 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 relationships. This demonstrates the importance of sociodemographic factors, such as age and location.
• However, sociodemographic factors, in particular, may not play as big a role in the development of relationships nowadays, as the development of technology, (such as dating websites and apps) greatly affects modern relationships. Compared with 20-30 years ago, people nowadays are more likely to develop relationships with someone who is not in their geographical proximity or from the same culture, making the Filter Theory’s claims less valid in today’s society than it was 20 years ago.
• Most research supporting the Filter Theory uses participants from individualist cultures that value free choice in relationships, and describe the choice of partners in terms of individual preferences. 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.