Markey & Markey et al 2007

Question 1

similarity - attraction hypothesis

Answer 1

we tend to favour partners whom we perceive to be similar to ourselves

this theory has cross cultural evidence however it lacks generalisability and does ot have sufficient longitudinal reaserch

Question 2

aim

Answer 2

investigating similarity - attraction hypothesis

Question 3

participants

Answer 3

169 undergraduate students

103 women
66 men

self selected sample from an advertisment asking single people looking for a romantic partner

Question 4

procedure

Answer 4

the 169 participants were asked to fill out a number of questionnaires (quantitative study)

1) questionnaire about their personality from a list of 63 previously predetermined adjectives

2) filler questionnaires, which had totally unrelated irrelevant questions meant to disguise the true purpose of the study

3) questionnaire about the personality of their ideal partner, which looked similar to the 1st one but it was about the partner, not themselves

Question 5

results

Answer 5

the vast majority of the participants chose the same adjectives to describe themselves and their ideal partners

consistently chose a romantic partner similar to themselves

systematically described their ideal partner in a way that was correlational and similar to the way they described themselves

Question 6

conclusion

Answer 6

the findings, therefore, support the similarity - attraction hypothesis

Question 7

strengths

Answer 7

• standardised (reliability)
• can be replicable which further strengthens the reliability
• face validity (measuring what it claims to be measuring, the extent to which a study is effective in its stated aim // purpose)

Question 8

weaknesses

Answer 8

• the participants may have made themselves appear as better versions of themselves, as a result of social desirability bias, a tendency to respond in a way that will make people look better in the eyes of others
• as the experiment is quantitative in nature, it lacks explanatory power