Evaluation -
- Strength - Winch found that similarity of interests, attitudes and personality traits were very important for couples in the beginning of relationships. In long term relationships complementarity of needs becomes more important than similarity
Limitation - However, social demographic factors may not play as big as a role in the development of relationships nowadays, as the development of technology such as dating apps greatly affects modern relationships. Compared with 20-30 years ago, people are more likely to develop relationships with those not in their geographical location or culture making the theory less valid today.
Limitation - Individualist cultures value free choice in relationships and describe the choice of partners in terms of individual preferences. In these cultures, many people choose partners based on little influence from other people. However, this is not the case in collectivist cultures where it is common for romantic relationships to be arranged without little influence from the individual themselves. This means the filter theory suffers from cultural bias, as it assumes that the rules of partner choice in Western cultures apply to relationships universally.