Attraction, Love and Relationships

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Aronson (1976)

it is better to have at least one glaring fault in order to appear at least human

Averill & Boothroyd (1977)

found the more you believe in such a thing as 'love at first sight', the more likely it is to happen

Buss (1989)

proposes that men prefer younger women because they are more likely to be fertile
women look for older, succesful men who can support them and their children
both prefer attractive partners because this indicates health and conseq

Byrne (1964)

manipulated seating arrangements in a classroom
found that those randomly placed in the centre became more popular
this suggests that proximity is influential

Cameron et al (1977)

Personal Advertisment research
found that men tended to sell themselves on status characteristics, whereas women tended to use physical appearance

Cash and Derlega (1978)

found that matching occurs in same-sex friendships

Characteristics of a Collectivist Culture

interdependency
group is the basic unit of concern
individual happiness is sacrificed for group happiness

Characteristics of Individualistic Cultures

individual goals and interests are highly regarded
importance is placed upon individual happiness
rights and freedoms of the individual are emphasied
achievement orientated

Cunningham (1988)

found that men who watched a happy film rather than a sad one later interacted more positively with a female confederate afterwards

Dunbar and McGuiness

Personal Advertisement research
found similar outcomes to Dunbar and Waynforth (1995) when analysing 600 ads in London papers

Dutton and Aron (1974)

love on a suspension bridge
participants were interviewed about scienic attractions when they visited a park
interviewer was an attractive female and she approached the men on either a high or low suspension bridge

Ebbeson et al (1976)

found that the most disliked people lived nearby
this is because those in close proximity have a greater potential to annoy us (with inconsiderate behaviour - e.g. loud noice etc)

Evaluation of Dutton and Aron (1974)

who decided the female interviewer was attractive?
individual differences were not accounted for (fear of heights, sexual orientation)

Evaluation of Walster et al (1966)

who judged the attractiveness of the participants?
lacks ecological validity
told that the woman was their ideal partner, so they may believe that they had something in common - therefore the results may not be due to attraction on

Evaluation of Wilson (1975)

this has sinister implications for rape
prosecution may not be possible if it can be argued that the defendent was genetically driven to rape

Festinger et al (1950)

studied married graduate students who had been randomly assigned to flats in 17 different two-storey buildings
found that 2/3 of close friends lived in the same bulding and that if this was the case, they were twice as likely to be on the

Filter Model of Attraction

Kerckhoff and Davis (1962)
states that we rely on social and personal factors to 'filter' potential friends and romantic partners
different criteria are used at different times

Filter Model Competence

tend to be attracted to people who appear to be intelligent and competent
Aronson (1976)

Filter Model Complementarity of Needs

although similarity is initially an important filter, characteristics that complement each other are important

Filter Model Physical Attractiveness

physical attraction gives an increased desire to interact with the attractive person
Walster et al (1966)
Walster and Walster (1969)
Murstein (1972)
Wheeler

Filter Model

Proximity

physical proximity makes it easier to get to know people
frequently interaction leads to increased non-verbal feedback which reaffirms attraction
Ebbeson et al (1976)
Byrne (1964)
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Filter Model

Similarity

more likely to come into contact with others of the same background, interests etc.
Newcombe (1961)
Kerkchoff (1974)

General Evaluation of the Filter Model

it is difficult to seperate the effects of proximity and similarity (physical proximity may predict attraction only in as much as similar people gather in the same place)
research does not focus on the influence of family and friends
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General Evaluation of the Matching Hypothesis

- supporting research is artifical (Murstein etc)
- too much emphasis on physical attractiveness
- too much emphasis on romantic relationships and little on friendships
- society has changed since the research began - no lo

Hofstede (1980-94)

analysed data from employees from 50 different countries
arugued that over half of the differences between cultures was accounted for by four dimensions, the most important being individualism/collectivism

Kerkchoff (1974)

Kerkchoff observed that married couples usually come from the same:
social
economic
religious
intelligence
and educational backgrounds

Kin Selection

states that we are innately programmed to form close family relationships as these help pass on our genes
the closer the genetic relationship is, the more we will sacrifice in order to protect out family
survivial of an individual&

Matching Hypothesis

Mismatched Relationships

having an attractive parner may boost self-esteem, but may also lead to jealousy
less attractive partners may feel insecure and jealous of the attention given to attractive partners
this can place a strain on the relationship and m

May and Hamilton (1980)

asked female students to look at photos of male strangers
divided into 3 groups
Group 1 listened to pleasant music
Group 2 listened to unpleasant music
Group 3 did not listen to any music
It was group 1 that

Murstein (1972)

used couples who were engaged or going steady
couples asked to rate their own partners attractiveness on a 5-point scale
independent judges rated the couples of attractiveness from photographs
ratings were compared with tho

Murstein and Christy (1976)

studied married couples
found that they were more similar than dating couples in terms of physical attractiveness
supports the matching hypothesis
very strong evidence as the couples studied were those who were commited and

Newcombe (1961)

studied first-year male undergraduates who did not know each other
measured their attitude to various things
found they were more likely to form relationships with students who shared their attitudes

Relationships from Individualistic Cultures Tend to Be...

voluntary
based on love
temporary - many relationships before commitment

Relationships in a Collectivist Culture Tend to Be...

involuntary
permenant
seen as a union between families

Schachter and Singer (1962)

found that in certain circumstances emotions are determined by a general arousal state which the individual then interprets by referring to external factors

Segal (1974)

assigned trainees alphabetically to seats in classrooms and dormitories on the basis of surname
found that the closer together in the alphabet (and thus the closer they were to each other), the more likely they were to be friends

Silverman (1971)

conducted a field study in bars and similar public places
couples were unmarried and between the ages of 18-22
they were observed and rated by an independent party on a 5-point scale for attractiveness
couples had similar r

Sociobiological Theory

states that we are driven by our genes
attempts to explain human relationships purely in genetic terms
Wilson (1975)
Buss (1989)
Cameron et al (1977)

Sternberg (2000)

challenges the view that love can be analysed purely in terms of different constituent factors
suggests love between two people follows a story and these stories need to match
contrasts Hatfield and Walster's s

Studies for the Matching Hypothesis

Walster et al (1966)
Walster and Walster (1969)
Silverman (1971)
Murstein (1972)
Murstein and Christy (1976)
Cash and Derlega

Tesser and Paulhus (1976)

found that the more you think about love the more likely you are to fall in love

The Matching Hypothesis

The Matching Hypothesis states that people are attracted to others who have similar levels of attractiveness to themselves

The Three Factors for Romantic Love

Physiological Arousal
Appropriate Love Object
Cultural Exposure

Three Factor Theory of Love

Hatfield and Walster (1981)
love is a physiological state of arousal that is labelled as love when an appropriate love object is present and cultural cues tell you it is love
related to the cognitive labelling theo

Walster and Walster (1969)

supports matching hypothesis
second computer dance study
the participants could meet first and state how attractive they wanted their partner to be
they tended to choose someone of comparable attractiveness to themselves

Walster et al (1966)

does not support matching hypothesis
computer dance study
752 American Fresher students
paired randomly but believed they were with their ideal partner (based upon a previous questionnaire)
unknown to them, they had

Wheeler and Kim (1997)

found that Korean, American and Canadian students rated physically attractive people as being more sociable, friendly, extroverted, happy and mature
this is called the Halo Effect

Why We Enter Into a Relationship

(Reinforcement-Affect Model)

the presence of some individuals is associated with positive feelings which makes them more attractive
if we meet someone when we are feeling happy we are more inclined to like them (neutral stimuli + positive event = positive value)
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Wilson (1975)

argued that human sexual behaviour can be explained through an understanding of survival efficency
states that it is in the interests of males to impregnante as many women as possible. This ensures the passing on of the genes
Women

Yela and Sangrador (2001)

found that despite the matching effect, people tend to have a biased perception of their partner as being slightly more attractive than themselves

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Deck Info

Number of cards 50

Created By hannyah

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