Filter Theory

• Filter Theory is By & Year?

  • Kerckhoff & Davis (1962)
• What did K&D say?

  • All the romantic partners potentially available to us are reduced by a series of filters to a limited collection of people we would like to form a relationship with.
  • K & D compared attitudes & personalities of student couples in the short term (less than 18 months). They devised the filter theory to explain how a romantic relationship forms & develops.
• K&D explain attraction in terms of ???

  • First we consider: FIELD OF AVALIABLES
  • 2nd we consider: FIELD OF DESIRABLES
• Field of availables?

  • First we consider the:
  • Field of availables = the entire set of potential partners. But, not everyone who is available to us is desirable. (pool of potential partners who are accessible to us).
• Field of Desirables?


  • 2nd we consider the:
  • Field of Desirables (a narrower range of desirable partners) via 3 filters of varying importance at different stages of a relationship
• The filters:

  • Social Demographic (1st filter)
  • Similarity of Attitudes (2nd filter)
  • Complementary Filter (3rd filter)
• Social Demographic?

  • 1st filter

  A) ?

  
• Similarity of attitudes?

  • 2nd filter

  A) ?

  
• Complementary Filter?

  • 3rd filter

  A) ?

  
• 1st Filter?

  • SD = factors that influence chances of meeting
  • SD = Geographical locations, social class, education, ethnic, religion etc 
  • Accessibility of potential partner - u more likely to meet & have meaningful encounters with people who physically close & share features with yourself (similar socially, culturally etc)
  • Anyone too ‘different’ (far away, too middle class etc) is discounted/ ‘filtered out’ as a potential partner before next stage
  • The outcome is homogamy - being with someone who is similar to u (shares background: both socially, culturally etc).
• Demographics def?

  • Demographics = features that describe populations.
• 2nd Filter?


  Similarity of attitudes

  • Sharing similar beliefs & attitudes = key for couples who have been together less than 18 months/early stages of relationships agreeing on basic values promotes better communication and self-disclosure
  • Two psychologists mentioned key ideas:
  • Bahns et al (2016)
  • Bryne (1997)
• 2nd filter - Bahns et al (?)


  • Bahns et al (2016): there are several reasons why similarity is so important but crucially it helps to make social situations more comfortable. It pays to interact with a partner who shares your attitudes, goals & values because it makes the relationship run more smoothly & reduces the likelihood of unpleasant conflict.
• 2nd filter - Bryne (?)


  • Bryne (1997) found that similarity in attitudes causes mutual attraction / increases attraction = law of attraction. If this similarity is not present eventually the relationship will ‘fizzle out’/fade.
• 3rd filter?

  Complementary Filter

  • Meeting each other's needs is the most important for long term couples/later stages of relationship e.g. making ur partner laugh & ur partner enjoying being made laugh.
  • Partners complement each other when they have traits the other lacks.
  • Gives the feeling of being with the other person.
  • Complementarity gives the romantic partners a feeling of ‘togetherness’ & ‘making a whole’. e.g. partners feel like they meeting each other's needs if one likes caring & other enjoys being cared for (‘opposites attract’).
  • Really key for long distance couples
• Factors affecting attraction in psychology spec?

  • Self Disclosure 
  • Physical Attraction
  • Filter Theory
• The Filter Theory explains some of the factors affecting attraction