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Factors Affecting Attraction in Romantic Relationships: - Coggle Diagram
Factors Affecting Attraction in Romantic Relationships:
Self-disclosure:
Self disclosure
- revealing personal info about yourself; romantic partners reveal more about their true selves at their relationship develops
Social penetration theory
(Altman and Taylor (1973) - the process of developing deeper intimacy through mutual self disclosure and other forms of vulnerability; involving the voluntary sharing with another
Evaluation:
Research support: Sprecher and Hendrick (2004)
Studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure - more satisfied and committed to the relationship
However correlation does not equal causation
Research support: Laurenceauce et al (2005)
Used a method involving daily diary entries
Found self-disclosure in a partner was linked to higher levels of intimacy
Strength - Real life application:
Can help people who want to improve communication
Can increase intimacy and strengthen bond
Haas and Stafford (1998)
- found 57% of gay men and women in their study said open and honest disclosure was how they maintained their relationships
However:
Research only highlights a correlation which means that causation does not equal correlation
There are cultural differences in this type of self disclosure eg. collectivist, individualistic
Social desirability (self reports are unreliable)
Physical Attractiveness:
Matching Hypothesis:
We look for partners who are similar to ourselves in terms of physical attractiveness (Walster +Walster (1969)
Symmetry is a factor affecting attractiveness:
gives an honest signal of genetic fitness (it's difficult to fake facial symmetry)
Example of sexual selection
Halo effect:
to describe how one distinguishing feature tends to have a disproportionate influence on our judgements of a person's other attributes
Physical attractiveness may also matter because we have preconceived ideas about the personality traits attractive people must have, and they are almost universally positive
Filter Theory:
Kerkhoff and Davis (1962):
Procedure:
Used 94 students in a relationship for less than 18 months (short term) with those in a relationship for over 18 months (long term)
Using self report questionnaires, looking at shared values and attitudes, and the need complementarity
7 months after initial questioning, couples were asked how close they felt to each other compared to at the beginning of the study
Field of variables:
Social demography:
Proximity
Social class
Ethnic group
Religion
Level of education
Similarity in attitudes:
Agreeing on basic values and attitudes
Found to be important in relationships that were less than 18 months
Encourages deeper communication and self-disclosure
Complementarity:
Ability to meet each others needs
More important in long term relationships
Opposites attract
Evaluation:
Research support:
It makes sense - face validity - it echoes the matching hypothesis but includes more than just physical attractiveness
However:
Very little supporting research - failed to replicate, defining depth of a relationship
It is unknown if it is cause and effect as - similarity, emotional convergence
It lacks temporal validity because online dating, reduced importance, social demography
Research methods are flawed - self-reports, reliability (social desirability bias)