factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships

• what is self-disclosure?

  revealing personal information about yourself such as your thoughts, feelings and beliefs
• why do we self-disclose?

  • to feel intimate with someone
  • for greater feelings of intimacy
• what is social penetration theory?

  • a gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone
  • we reveal superficial information first and move onto intimate details later
  • too much information given early is off putting
• according to social penetration theory, self-disclosure requires 3 things. What are they?

  • breadth
  • depth
  • reciprocity
• according to social penetration theory, what is breadth?

  the range of topics talked about
• according to social penetration theory, what is depth

  details of topics talked about
• according to social penetration theory, what is reciprocity?

  returning the self-disclosure
• what are two universal physically attractive features?

  • a symmetrical face
  • neotenous features such as large eyes and a small nose
• why is having a symmetrical face physically attractive?

  a signal of genetic fitness
• why is having neotenous features (baby-faced features) physically attractive?

  these trigger a protective or caring instinct which is a valuable resource for those wanting to produce
• what is the halo effect?

  people who are judged to be attractive are seen in a positive light and attributed positive traits
• what is matching hypothesis?

  we choose a partner of similar attractiveness to ourselves
• according to the matching hypothesis, we choose a partner of similar level of attractiveness, why do we do this?

  • avoid rejection by someone out of our league
  • we subconsciously have a good idea about our own level of attractiveness
• what is filter theory?

  using filtering to reduce the field of availables to a field of desirables
• what are the 3 filters in filter theory? *in order

  • social demography
  • similarity in attitudes
  • complimentary
• what is the field of availables?

  the entire set of potential romantic partners
• what is the field of desirables?

  a limited collection of potential romantic partners based on our preferences
• what is social demography in filter theory?

  • geographical location (for proximity and accessibility)
  • social class
  • level of education
• what is similarity in attitudes in filter theory?

  we look for people who share basic values and morals
• what is complimentary in filter theory?

  partners compliment each other when they have traits the other lacks
• give a weakness of self-disclosure

  • increased self-disclosure doesn't always lead to relationships satisfaction
  • according to ducks phase model of relationship breakdown, partners often disclose more as an attempt to save the relationship, but this often doesn't save the relationship
  • therefore, this is a weakness because self-disclosure can also lead to relationship dissatisfaction, so its not always linked to relationship satisfaction
• give a strength of self-disclosure

  • real world application
  • relationship counselling
  • if less skilled partners learn to use self-disclosure, this could bring benefits to their relationship
  • therefore, this is a strength as improving self disclosure can benefit struggling couples and improve their relationship and increase couples quality of life
• give a weakness of self-disclosure

  • cultural limitations
  • self-disclosure may be less appropriate for romantic relationships in cultures where partners are not allowed free choice e.g those that have arranged marriages
  • other factors like status, wealth and occupation of the partner choice more than levels of self-disclosure
  • therefore, this makes self-disclosure as a factor affecting initial attraction culturally bias and only true in certain societies
• give a weakness of self-disclosure

  • we do not know the direction of causation
  • currently, we are claiming increased self-disclosure causes increased satisfaction in a relationship
  • however, the direction of causation may be the other way around as partners become more satisfied with their relationship, it causes them to disclose more deeply and broadly leading to more disclosures
  • therefore, this is a weakness of research into self-disclosure as we cannot claim for sure that increased self-disclosure leads to increased satisfaction
• give strength of self-disclosure

  • research support
  • sprecher and hendrick (2004)
  • observed couples on dates and found a close correlation between the amount of satisfaction each person felt and overall self-disclosure that occurred between the partners
  • therefore, this evidences self-disclosure being an important factor affecting attraction in relationships
• give a strength of the halo effect

  • research support
  • dion et al. (1972) research found that attractive people are consistently rated as successful, kind and sociable when compared with unattractive people
  • therefore, this means that we not only believe that good looking people are more physically attractive, we expect them to have other desirable characteristics and we tend to behave more positively around them
• give a strength of the matching hypothesis

  • research support
  • silverman (1971) found couples were observed in naturalistic dating environment (bars and restaurants)
  • the observed couples were predominantly 18-22 year olds and unmarried
  • each observer independently rated the dating couple on a 5 point scale
  • there was an extremely high degree of similarity between the attractiveness of the couple members
  • therefore, this research support gives the matching hypothesis theory high credibility
• give a weakness of matching hypothesis

  • taylor et al. (2011) studied the activity logs of a popular online dating site and measured people's date choices
  • they found that online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were more physically attractive than them
  • we expect the daters to sought dates with people who were of similar levels of attractiveness to themselves
  • therefore, this decreases the credibility of the matching hypothesis theory
• give a strength of physical attraction

  • research support for neotenous features
  • cunnignham et al. (1995) found that female features of large eyes, prominent cheek bones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated as highly attractive by white, hispanic and asian males
  • the researchers concluded that what is considered physically attractive is consistent across different cultures
  • therefore, partner preferences appear to be universal as the importance of physical attractiveness makes sense at an evolutionary level
• give a weakness of physical attraction

  • culture bias
  • studies have been completed in western societies and fail to recognise that many forms of relationship are not governed by physical attraction
  • e.g in arranged marriage attractiveness plays a minimal role, the families of the couple are considered and the benefits and opportunities that joining the two households could bring to each other
  • therefore, this suggests that physical attraction is an explanation of initial attraction cannot be applied across all cultures
• give a weakness of physical attraction

  • ignores other factors affecting attraction
  • other factors may attract or repel a potential partner e.g opinions, humour, accent, occupation
  • therefore, physical attraction as an explanation of initial attraction is only a partial explanation
• give a weakness of physical attraction

  • individual differences
  • towhey et al. (1979) gave participants photos of strangers and some biographical information about them
  • participants were asked to rate how much they liked the people on the photographs
  • participants sexist attitudes were measured as well
  • physical attractiveness was more important for participants who displayed sexist attitudes and less important to those who didn't display sexist attitudes
  • therefore, there are individual differences
• give a weakness of filter theory

  • contradictory research for similarity in attitudes
  • anderson et al. (2003)
  • found in a longitudinal study that partners become more similar in their emotional responses over time, as opposed to begin with
  • therefore, this research decreases the credibility of the filter theory
• give a strength of filter theory

  • research support for social demography
  • clark (1952) found that 50% of citizens of columbus, ohio USA were married to partners who initially lived within walking distance of their house
  • therefore, this research increases the credibility of the filter theory
• give a weakness of filter theory

  • contradictory research for complimentary
  • markey and markey (2013) found that lesbian couples of equal dominance were the most satisfied as opposed to these who complimented each other
  • therefore, this decreases the credibility of the filter theory
• give a weakness of filter theory

  • low temporal validity
  • constraints e.g social class and ethnicity doesn't impact us in a modern british society
  • also, social media and transport means that we can meet people outside of our immediate location
  • therefore, this means filter theory cannot explain initial attraction in modern day relationships, reducing its explanatory power
• give a weakness of filter theory

  • culture bias
  • most research conducted into filter theory is conducted in individualistic cultures
  • these cultures value free choice in relationships and individuals can work through the stages of filter theory quite freely without influence of others
  • this is not always the case in collectivist cultures because arranged marriages where parents opinions and factors e.g wealth, status and occupation matter more than similarity and complimentary
  • therefore, this means that filter theory is not a universal explanation