Psychology: Relationships - Factors affecting attraction

Sprecher and Hatfield (2009) suggest a reason why research often fails to find evidence of matching in terms of physical attractiveness.

. A person may compensate for a lack of physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities such as a charming personality, kindness, status, money and so on. Sprecher and Hatfield refer to this tendency to compensate for a lack of physical attractiveness by offering other desirable traits as 'complex matching'. In this way people are able to attract partners far more physically attractive than themselves by offering compensatory assets, for example an older, wealthy man may pair with a younger, attractive woman. This evidence therefore contradicts the assumption that physical attractiveness is a major factor in affecting attraction, as clearly other qualities (e.g. personality) are also desirable.

Filter One: Social Demography

Age, background, location, race etc Makes it more likely for you to be together. Anyone who is too differnet​ it filter out

Breadth and depth of self-disclosure

Altman and Taylor As breadth and depth increases, romantic partners become more committed to each other. Onion analogy Breadth of disclosure is narrow because many topics are 'off-limits' in the early stage of a relationship. If we were to reveal too much too soon, we might get the response 'too much information', possibly even threatening the relationship before it's had a chance to get going. Ajzen (1977) sees self-disclosure more as a product of information processing, Therefore people who self-disclose personal information to us are seen favourably as likeable, trustworthy and kind.

Physical Attractiveness - AO1

Buss Men in particular place great importance on physical attractiveness when choosing a mate. Physical appearance is an important cue to a women's health and hence her fertility and reproductive value. More recent research (e.g. Eastwick et al., 2011) suggests that it may be just as important to women as it is to men when choosing a romantic partner. However, these researchers suggest that whereas women may rely on physical attractiveness when choosing males for short-term relationships. Men were more likely than women to rely on physical attractiveness in long-term relationships.

Cunningham et al. (1995) supports the assumption that physical attractiveness is a factor affecting attraction.

Female features of large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated as highly attractive by white, Hispanic and Asian males. Supports the view that physical attractiveness is a factor that affects attraction and what is considered 'physically attractive' is consistent across cultures. This means we can generalise the findings across both individualist and collectivist cultures, thus increasing the population validity of the study.

Palmer & Peterson (2012) provide research support for the halo effect.

Found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people. This halo effect was so powerful that it persisted even when participants knew that these 'knowledgeable' people had no particular expertise. Obvious implications for the political process. Perhaps there are dangers for democracy if politicians are judged as suitable for office merely because they are considered physically attractive by enough voters. Existence of the halo effect has been found to apply in many other areas of everyday life, confirming that physical attractiveness is an important factor in the initial formation of relationships, romantic or otherwise.

Filter theory - AO1

Kerckhoff and Davis, 1962 We choose romantic partners by using a series of filters that narrow down the 'field of availables' from which we might eventually make our choice. Different filters are prominent at different stages of partner selection. During the early stages of courtship, demographic similarities (e.g. class, religion, where they live) are likely to be the most important factors in initiating a relationship. As the relationship develops, a similarity of attitudes and underlying values becomes more important in determining whether or not the relationship continues. Finally, partners are assessed in terms of whether they are compatible, for example whether their personality traits complement the individual's own traits. Kerckhoff and Davis argued that we 'filter out' unsuitable partners for different reasons at different times.

Feingold (1988).

Meta-analysis of 18 studies with a total of 1644 couples, some romantic and others pairs of friends. Positive correlation of 0.39 between the romantic couples, which was statistically significant. Indicates that matching occurred as the hypothesis predicted, again confirming that people often choose someone who is 'in their league' in terms of physical attractiveness.

Explaining the importance of physical attractiveness:

One promising explanation draws upon evolutionary theory. Shackelford and Larsen (1997) found that people with symmetrical faces are rated as more attractive. This is because it may be an honest signal of genetic fitness. People are also attracted to faces with neotenous (baby-face) features such as widely separated and large eyes, a delicate chin, and a small nose - because these trigger a protective or caring instinct, a valuable resource for females wanting to reproduce.

Murstein (1972) provides support for the matching hypothesis.

Photos of 99 dating couples Compared these with photos of randomly paired males and females. Real couples consistently rated as more alike in levels of attractiveness than those who had been randomly paired. Demonstrates that rather than seeking the most physically attractive partner, people tend to go for someone who is of a similar level of attractiveness to them; thus supporting the matching hypothesis.

Real-life application. Help people who want to improve communication

Romantic partners probably use self-disclosure deliberately and skilfully from time to time to increase intimacy and strengthen their bond. Hass & Stafford (1998) found that 57% of gay men and women in their study said that open and honest self-disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their committed relationships. If less-skilled partners, for example, those who tend to limit communication to 'small-talk', can learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to the relationship in terms of deepening satisfaction and commitment. This is a strength of the self-disclosure theory as it demonstrates the value of psychological insights and, as the theory predicts, improves satisfaction in a relationship

Social penetration theory

Self-disclosure is a major concept within Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor's (1973) social penetration theory of how relationships develop. It is the gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else, of giving away your deepest thoughts and feelings. In romantic relationships, it involves the reciprocal exchange of information between intimate partners. When one partner reveals some personal information they display trust; to go further the other partner must also reveal sensitive information. As they increasingly disclose more and more information to each other, romantic partners 'penetrate' more deeply into each other's lives, and gain a greater understanding of each other. It is a basic feature of romantic relationships. Difficult to 'bear one's soul' to a relative stranger. Doing so means that a relationship has reached a certain stage where such self-disclosure will be welcomed and - hopefully - reciprocated.

Sprecher and Hendrick (2004)

Strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure (both theirs and their partner's) This supports the self-disclosure theory as it shows that the reciprocated exchange of disclosure increases the satisfaction of a relationship as the theory predicted

Self disclosure - AO1

The voluntary sharing of private aspects of the self with another person. Through self-disclosure, an individual lets himself or herself be known to the other person, thus 'reducing the mystery' between them. Sidney Jourard (1971) Intimate thoughts and feelings Disclosure leading to greater feelings of intimacy

The Matching Hypothesis

Walster and her colleagues put forward a simple theory in 1966, which has become known as the matching hypothesis. Walster suggested that rather than seeking the most physically attractive partner, people tend to go for someone who is of a similar level of attractiveness to them - essentially 'in the same league'. This is thought to be because it reduces the chance of rejection

The halo effect

We have preconceived ideas about personality traits attractive people must have, and they are almost universally positive. This is the physical attractiveness stereotype, a widely-accepted view of attractive people neatly summed up in a phrase coined by Karen Dion and her colleagues: 'What is beautiful is good'. Dion et al. (1972) found that physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable, and successful compared to unattractive people. Psychologists use the term halo effect to describe how one distinguishing feature (physical attractiveness, in this case) tends to have a disproportionate influence on our judgements of a person's other attributes, for example, their personality.

Content of the disclosure -

although generally intimate disclosures are seen favourably, disclosure of highly intimate information may be seen as inappropriate and as violating social norms, especially if a relationship is in its early stages. This could decrease attraction, as the recipient of the information may feel threatened and unsure of how to respond. Therefore attraction is generally weaker when self-disclosure is of low intimacy or high intimacy and stronger when self-disclosure is of moderate intimacy.

Filter Two: Similarity in attitudes

attitudes, interests and basic values. central importance at the start of a relationship best predictor of the relationship becoming

Appropriateness of the disclosure .

sometimes disclosing personal information is inappropriate, for example doing so on a first date may be viewed as 'over the top', indicating a person is maladjusted and lacking in social skills. Social norms (expected ways of behaviour) seem to exist as to what information is okay to reveal in what situations/at which times. More attractive people will be sensitive to these norms.

Attributions for the disclosure

the reasons we believe a person is self-disclosing to us are important. Less attraction occurs if an individual is seen as the kind of person who discloses personal information to everyone, or is someone self-disclosing because the situation is seen as lending itself to self-disclosure. However, more attraction occurs if we believe an individual sees us as someone they especially want to disclose intimate information to.

Gender differences

women generally are seen as better communicators of and more interested in intimate information, therefore intimate self-disclosures by males may be seen as less appropriate than those by females. Alternatively, self-disclosure by a male may be seen as very rewarding by a female, as it indicates he especially wants to disclose personal information to her. Males, meanwhile, may not be used to and thus feel threatened by females self-disclosing intimate details to them