filter theory Flashcards
what did kerhcoff and david do?
compared the attitudes and personalities of student couples in short term (defined as less than 18 months) and long-term relationships.
what is filter theory?
an explanation of relationship formation. It states that a series of different factors progressively limits the range of available romantic partners to a much smaller pool of possibilities
filter 1 : social demography
The first filter theory refers to a wide range of factors which influence the chances of potential partners meeting each other in the first place. They include geographical location (or proximity), social class, level of equation, ethnic group, religion
filter 2 : similarity of attitudes
Partners will often share important beliefs and values, partly because the field of availability has already been narrowed down by the first filter to those who have significant social and cultural characteristics in common.
what did kerchoff and davis find about similarity of attitudes
it was important to the development of romantic relationships, but only for couples who had been together less than 18 months. (encourages greater and deeper communication, and promotes self- disclosure.)
filter 3 : complimentary
The ability of romantic partners to meet each other’s needs.
Two partners complement each other when they have the traits that the other lacks
(more important for the long term couples.)
evaluation : strength
gruber - baldini longitudinal study
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 relationship.
what does gruber - baldini study support
this demonstrated 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
evaluation: strength
winch research support
Winch found that similarity of interests , attitudes and personality traits were very important for couples in the beginning of relationships and complementarity of needs had more impact on long term relationships.
Newcomb offered participants free accommodation for a year. They were assigned a roommate , and he found that a stable friendship developed if roommates had a similar background and similar attitudes to life
evaluation: weakness
filters are reductionsists and limits range of real life romantic experiences
basing the explanation of such complex phenomena as romantic relationships on the application of a series of filters is reductionists and limits the range of real life romantic experiences it can explain.
the filter theory does not explain why many stay a long time in abusive relationships despite the lack of complementarity
what does the weakness of filters being reductionists suggest
this suggest that a holistic approach to studying romantic relationships may be better suited to explaining the complexity of relationships maintenance
evaluation: weakness
18 month short term and long term relationships
Kerckhoff and Davis set the cut-off point for short-term relationships at 18 months assuming that if people have been in relationships longer, it signifies greater commitment. this doesn’t apply to all heterosexual couples (Some couples take much longer than 18 months)
