THEORIES OF ATTRACTION

							 THEORIES OF ATTRACTION
•EVOLUTIONARY THEORY(SOCIOBIOLOGICAL)

•REINFORCEMENT AND NEED SATISFACTION

•ECONOMIC THEORIES: EXCHANGE AND EQUITY
•COMMUNAL AND EXCHANGE RELATIONSHIPS

•FILTER MODEL
   THEORIES OF ATTRACTION
      p.63 RED/ p.7 GRN
• It is difficult to test theories of inter-personal
  attraction and relationships, because:
• 1. They are so varied
• 2. There are many different types of
      relationship
• 3. Relationships change over time
• 4. They cannot be tested in the lab or
  manipulated in any way
• 5. Variables cannot be controlled
     EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
 (also called sociobiological thoery)
• Based on evolution
• An adaptive behaviour is one which promotes
  survival.
• This is apparent in terms of reproductive success.
• This theory implies that we seek out healthy people
  with whom to reproduce.
• BUSS – proposed that men prefer younger women
  because they are more fertile.
• Because we share 50% of our genes with our
  parents, they have a strong interest in ensuring our
  survival.
           KIN SELECTION
• survival of an individual’s genes stretches to
  the survival of close relatives. We will do
  more to help the survival of a relative
  because they share our genes.
• FELLNER AND MARSHALL ’81 - found
  evidence for this.
• P’s were asked if they were willing to be a
  kidney donor.
• 86% said yes for their own children
• 67% said yes for their parents
• 50% said yes for siblings
       EVALUATION OF
    EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
1. It can account for the enormous
  amount of giving parent does.
2. It cannot account for the function of
  homosexual and lesbian
  relationships, or heterosexual couples
  who decide not to have children
3. It focuses on sexual relationships
4. It cannot explain why some people
  may love their best friend as much as
  their sexual partner.
REINFORCEMENT AND NEED SATISFACTION
               THEORY
           p.65 red/ p.9 grn
 •   We receive reinforcement from others in the form of:
 •   Love         Sex             Status            Help          Money
 •   Agreement with our opinions.

 •   Positive reinforcement                        Results in:
 •   Approval of others                            increased self esteem
 •   Comfort from others                           satisfies dependency
 •   Control of others                             satisfies power needs
 •   Making love                                           satisfies sexua
 •   This is OPERANT CONDITIONING
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• BYRNE ’71 showed that classical
  conditioning is also involved in liking.
• P’s were asked to listen to someone
  expressing EITHER:
• Similar attitudes
• – this created positive feelings
• Dissimilar attitudes
• -this created negative feelings
• Why is this an example of classical
  conditioning?
      EVIDENCE THAT CLASSICAL
       CONDITIONING OCCURS IN
            ATTRACTION
• VEITCH AND GRIFFITT’76 – exposed P’s
  unknowingly to a “good news” bulletin or a
  “bad news” bulletin in a waiting room.
• Those who had listened to the “good news”
  reported more good feelings, and if rating
  others, gave them a higher rating.
• This supports classical conditioning
  theory, because:
• Positive feelings              Increase of
•                                  Attraction
• How did Veitch and Griffitt measure these
  changes? (p.9/65)
     EVALUATION OF NEEDS
        SATISFACTION
• RABBIE AND HOROWITZ ’60: found
  that if strangers won a game
  together, they expressed more liking
  for each other than if they lost.
• But DUCK crticised these studies for
  being low in external validity
• Why might this be?
       EVALUATION OF NEEDS
       SATISFACTION THEORY
1. We are more attracted to those who positively
  reinforce us.
  ARGYLE found that people who are
  friendly, cooperative, smiling and warm are more
  liked.
                     BUT
2. Conditioning cannot account for all of interpersonal
   attraction. It can account for short term
   relationships better than long term.
3. The theory assumes that people are selfish and out to
   maximise their rewards
4. The theory is more relevant to individualistic
   than collectivist cultures
       ECONOMIC THEORIES OF
          RELATIONSHIPS
• SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY
• Thibaut and Kelley proposed that we
  attempt to maximise rewards and minimise
  costs of relationships
• Task: make a list of rewards and costs
      4 STAGES OF LONG-TERM
            FRIENDSHIP
•   Find the meaning of each of these:
•   SAMPLING
•   BARGAINING
•   COMMITMENT
•   INSTITUTIONALISATION

• We all have a comparison level, built from
  past relationships
          EQUITY THEORY
• HATFIELD extended social exchange
  theory to include fairness over time.
• People expect to receive rewards in
  proportion to what they are giving
• Imbalance is tolerated if both partners
  accept the situation
   4 ASSUMPTIONS OF EQUITY
           THEORY
1. Individuals try to maximise rewards they
   receive and minimise costs
2. There is negotiation to produce fairness
3. If the relationships is unfair (inequitable)
   it causes distress
4. The disadvantaged person will try to
   make the relationship equitable
  EVIDENCE FOR EQUITY THEORY

• Hatfield asked newly weds to rate their
  relationship for fairness, and how happy
  thy were
• This correlated positively
• If they felt they over-benefitted, they
  tended to feel guilty
• Those who judged their marriage as
  equitable were happiest
 EVALUATION OF EQUITY THEORY

1. This theory takes more into account than
   social exchange theory
2. It assumes humans are selfish
3. Married couples who were highly
   concerned with exchange were less
   happy
    COMMUNAL AND EXCHANGE
      RELATIONSHIPS P.68
• CLARK AND MILLS - argue that there are 2 types
  of relationship:
• COMMUNAL              EXCHANGE
• Close friends         acquaintances
• Family                strangers
• Focus on others’      focus on balancing
• needs                 needs

• Romantic relationships are concerned about
  meeting needs of the other
      PAULA EXPERIMENT
• Clark rigged a situation where Male P’s
  met Paula
• Group A were told she was single
• Group B were told she was married
• Each P was asked to finish a task she had
  started in a particular colour felt tip.
• Most of group A continued in same colour
• Most of group B continued in a different
  colour
           PAULA CONTD
• Choosing the same colour felt tip indicated
  a combined effort and therefore a
  communal approach
          FILTER THEORY
• Kerckhoff and Davis argued that
  relationships go through a series of filters,
  each of which is essential for the
  relationship to begin or to continue
• Example: Men often seek female partners
  initially on looks. Other compatibility
  factors are considered after the initial
  advance (or even much later in the
  relationship)
        PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

                 PROXIMITY



• Proximity filter – we only meet a very small
  fraction of the people living in our area
• Similarity filter – most of those we do meet
  will be of similar social class and
  education to ourselves and possibly the
  same racial or ethnic group
      COMPLEMENTARITY
• Complementarity of emotional needs – the
  ability to satisfy the other person’s needs
  was the best predictor of survival of long
  term relationships that were studied over a
  7 month period
   STUDY TO DEMONSTRATE
     COMPLEMENTARITY
• Asked student P’s in relationships to
  answer a questionnaire on the degree to
  which their own and their partner’s needs
  were complementary
• Then asked to estimate how strong their
  relationship is now compared to 7 months
  ago
EFFECT OF SHARED BELIEFS
• Kerckhoff and Davis found that
  chances of a short term relationship
  becoming more permanent depended
  most on shared beliefs
• In order for a couple to be compatible,
  social attributes and values need to
  be similar whereas personality traits
  need to be complementary
  EVALUATION OF FILTER THEORY

• + Considerable evidence that factors important
  in the early stages of a relationship differ from
  those that matter later on
• + Helps us to make theoretical sense of the wide
  range of factors that influence the formation and
  maintenance of interpersonal relationships
• - Focuses on romantic relationships so tells us
  little about factors influencing the development
  of friendships