relationships-factors affecting romantic attraction

Question 1

what are the 3 factors affecting romantic attraction

Answer 1

-self disclosure
-physical attractiveness and the matching hypothesis
-filter theory

Question 2

what is self-disclosure

Answer 2

the act of revealing personal details about yourself to another person
-this information can be superficial eg-work
-or can be intimate eg-aspirations
-people tend to prefer those who disclose intimate details
-when people express personal details about themselves this encourages reciprocal disclosure

Question 3

what are 2 pieces of supporting evidence for self-disclosure

Answer 3

sprecher and hendrick
laurenceau

Question 4

what did sprecher and hendrick find

Answer 4

studied heterosexual dating and found a positive corrolation between relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure
-those who used self-disclosure were also more committed

Question 5

what is an issue with sprecher and hendricks research

Answer 5

“strong correlation” means we cannot establish cause and effect

Question 6

what did laurenceau find

Answer 6

studies 96 married couples using a diary over 6 weeks and found higher levels of self-disclosure where linked to higher levels of intimacy

Question 7

how has research into self-disclosure had useful applications

Answer 7

-can be used in relationship councelling

Question 8

describe the physical attractiveness hypothesis

Answer 8

Physical attractiveness may be what first draws a couple together: each partner finds the physical appearance of their mate to be pleasing and this further motivates the couple to spend more time together

Question 9

what did research find about people who are rated as more attractive

Answer 9

Dion found that attractive people are rated as more kind, sociable and successful in comparison to unattractive people.

Question 10

what is the halo effect

Answer 10

Type of cognitive bias where attractive people are perceived better than unattractive people.

Question 11

what is the matching hypothesis

Answer 11

people choose partners who are a similar level of attractiveness to themselves
the more socially desirable you are the more socially desirable you would expect your partner to be
people make realistic choices about the chances of there affection being reciprocated
theory suggest couples who are matched are more likely to are a happier relationship

Question 12

what is some supporting evidence for physical attractiveness

Answer 12

-Dion
-Palmer and Peterson
-Wheeler and kim

Question 13

what did palmer and peterson find

Answer 13

found that physically attractive people where rated as more politically knowledgable compared to unattractive people even when ps knew they had no particular expertise

Question 14

what did wheeler and kim find

Answer 14

korean and american students judged physically attractive people to be more trustworthy, concerned for others and mature

Question 15

who found a weakness of the matching hypothesis

Answer 15

Taylor investigated the matching hypothesis using the activity logs of an online dating site which revealed that people do not necessarily apply the matching hypothesis when it comes to dating decisions, professing a preference for the most attractive males/females on the site

Notions of ‘what is attractive?’ are highly subjective and prone to individual differences which means that associated theories lack scientific validity

Question 16

what are the 3 levels of filter theory

Answer 16

1. social demography
2. similarity in attitudes
3. complementarity

Question 17

what is social demography

Answer 17

-we are more likely to come into contact with individuals who share the same demographic features as ourselves
eg-geographical location, level of eductation, religious beliefs
eg-people of the same religion are more likely to come into contact with eachother in places of worship

Question 18

what is similarities in attitudes

Answer 18

you need to have agreement over basic values this enables deeper communication and more self-disclosure
it predicts if the relationship will become stable

Question 19

what is complementarity

Answer 19

refers to how well romantic partners meet eachothers needs
-people are attracted to other with different needs as they provide one another with mutual satisfaction
-this is important for couples in the long term

Question 20

what are 2 pieces of supporting evidence for filter theory

Answer 20

winch
gruber-baldini

Question 21

what did winch find

Answer 21

Winch found that similarity of interests, attitudes and personality are typical of the early stages of a relationship, and that complementarity of needs was more important than physical attractiveness. This lends support to filter theory.

Question 22

what did gruber-baldini find

Answer 22

Gruber-Baldini 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, supporting the idea that people are more likely to meet and build relationships with people who are geographically close and share similarities in terms of age, education, etc.

Question 23

what is some opposing evidence for filter theory

Answer 23

anderson found that in cohabitating partners that as there relationship progressed they became more similar in their emotional response this is knows as emotional convergence

this suggests that similarity becomes a consequence of the relationship and it not what caused the relationship.

Question 24

what is some debates regarding filter theory

Answer 24

-lack temporal validity due to the rise of dating apps we are more likely to meet people outside our social demographic