Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships.
Self-Disclosure:
o The idea that relationship formation is built on trust with another person
o Part of Social Penetration Theory by Altman and Taylor (1973)
o Gradually revealing personal information e.g. thoughts, feelings and experiences you
may not share with others.
o Reveals their ‘true selves.’
o Leads to greater intimacy and ultimately more satisfaction.
o Two dimensions: breadth and depth (onion metaphor) – people often share a lot of
info about certain aspects of themselves (breadth) but consider some topics ‘off
limits’ (depth)
o As trust is built, depth of info shared becomes deeper
o Reciprocity is also an important feature of successful self-disclosure (balance of self-
disclosure between partners)
o Reciprocity leads to greater intimacy and deeper understanding.
Self-Disclosure Evaluation:
o Hass and Stafford conducted a study with gay men and women to discover how
they sustained and developed their romantic relationships with partners.
o Found: 57% of gay men and women considered open and honest self-disclosure as
most important strategy to maintain a close relationship.
o Interesting practical applications in terms of relationship counselling – less skilled
partners, with limited communication skills, can focus on developing self-disclosure
to help improve their relationships which will ultimately improve their satisfaction
and connection to others.
o Laurenceau asked pts to write a daily diary entry about their relationship.
o Found: self-disclosure and perception of disclosure in a partner, led to greater
feelings of intimacy.
o The reverse was true as well – those who complained about a lack of intimacy self-
disclosed less often.
o This suggests that self-disclosure does play an important role in deepening intimacy
and feelings of attraction.
o Takes a nomothetic approach and therefore ignore other factors that may affect
relationship satisfaction e.g. personality, attractiveness etc.
o Could benefit from a more idiographic approach to look at relationship satisfaction
in more detail than just a criterion to apply to all couples.
o It is culturally biased as it is based of western views of relationships and doesn’t
take into account that in other cultures relationships may benefit from other things
and self-disclosure may not play a role.
, Physical Attraction
o Physically attractiveness plays a major part in the formation of relationships.
o McNulty pointed out that physical attractiveness isn’t just important in the initial
stages of a relationship, but remains important for several years, including after
marriage.
o The Matching Hypothesis – People use common sense and will not automatically go
for the most attractive person available, but rather opt to select a prospective
partner who matches their own perceived level of physical attractiveness.
o Halo Effect (Palmer and Peterson (2012)) – the idea that people perceive those who
have desirable characteristics e.g. successful, kind and sociable are found to be more
attractive.
Walster et al (1966) Research
o Method: advertised a ‘computer dance’ for freshers in first week of college at
University of Minnesota. 376 male and 376 female volunteers were let in for $1.
Four independent judges secretly rated the students in terms of attractiveness whilst
they were collecting their tickets. Pts were asked to fill in questionnaire and told the
data would be used to determine the similarity between the males and females in
order to find the ideal partner for the dance. However, pairing of dates was
completely random. During intervals at the party, and 4 to 6 months later, students
were asked whether they found their partner attractive and whether they would go
on a subsequent date with them.
o Results: Partners responded more positively to others who had been rated as
physically attractive by the independent judges, irrespective of their own level of
attractiveness. This pattern was also echoed in willingness to ask out the partner on
another date. Females who were rated as physically attractive were frequently asked
out on a second date by males who were not rated as physically attractive.
o Conclusion: Contrary to the Matching Hypothesis, students expressed higher
appreciation of their partner if the partner was attractive, regardless of their own
level of attractiveness.
Physical Attraction Evaluation:
o Walster et al’s original study failed to support the hypothesis, other research has
also failed to provide conclusive evidence.
o E.g. Taylor et al. (2011) investigated the activity log on a dating website and found
that website users were more likely to try and arrange a meeting with a potential
partner who was more physically attractive than them.
o These findings contradicted the Matching Hypothesis as if it was correct, website
users would seek more dates with a personal of similar attractiveness because it
provides them with a better chance of being accepted by a potential partner.
Self-Disclosure:
o The idea that relationship formation is built on trust with another person
o Part of Social Penetration Theory by Altman and Taylor (1973)
o Gradually revealing personal information e.g. thoughts, feelings and experiences you
may not share with others.
o Reveals their ‘true selves.’
o Leads to greater intimacy and ultimately more satisfaction.
o Two dimensions: breadth and depth (onion metaphor) – people often share a lot of
info about certain aspects of themselves (breadth) but consider some topics ‘off
limits’ (depth)
o As trust is built, depth of info shared becomes deeper
o Reciprocity is also an important feature of successful self-disclosure (balance of self-
disclosure between partners)
o Reciprocity leads to greater intimacy and deeper understanding.
Self-Disclosure Evaluation:
o Hass and Stafford conducted a study with gay men and women to discover how
they sustained and developed their romantic relationships with partners.
o Found: 57% of gay men and women considered open and honest self-disclosure as
most important strategy to maintain a close relationship.
o Interesting practical applications in terms of relationship counselling – less skilled
partners, with limited communication skills, can focus on developing self-disclosure
to help improve their relationships which will ultimately improve their satisfaction
and connection to others.
o Laurenceau asked pts to write a daily diary entry about their relationship.
o Found: self-disclosure and perception of disclosure in a partner, led to greater
feelings of intimacy.
o The reverse was true as well – those who complained about a lack of intimacy self-
disclosed less often.
o This suggests that self-disclosure does play an important role in deepening intimacy
and feelings of attraction.
o Takes a nomothetic approach and therefore ignore other factors that may affect
relationship satisfaction e.g. personality, attractiveness etc.
o Could benefit from a more idiographic approach to look at relationship satisfaction
in more detail than just a criterion to apply to all couples.
o It is culturally biased as it is based of western views of relationships and doesn’t
take into account that in other cultures relationships may benefit from other things
and self-disclosure may not play a role.
, Physical Attraction
o Physically attractiveness plays a major part in the formation of relationships.
o McNulty pointed out that physical attractiveness isn’t just important in the initial
stages of a relationship, but remains important for several years, including after
marriage.
o The Matching Hypothesis – People use common sense and will not automatically go
for the most attractive person available, but rather opt to select a prospective
partner who matches their own perceived level of physical attractiveness.
o Halo Effect (Palmer and Peterson (2012)) – the idea that people perceive those who
have desirable characteristics e.g. successful, kind and sociable are found to be more
attractive.
Walster et al (1966) Research
o Method: advertised a ‘computer dance’ for freshers in first week of college at
University of Minnesota. 376 male and 376 female volunteers were let in for $1.
Four independent judges secretly rated the students in terms of attractiveness whilst
they were collecting their tickets. Pts were asked to fill in questionnaire and told the
data would be used to determine the similarity between the males and females in
order to find the ideal partner for the dance. However, pairing of dates was
completely random. During intervals at the party, and 4 to 6 months later, students
were asked whether they found their partner attractive and whether they would go
on a subsequent date with them.
o Results: Partners responded more positively to others who had been rated as
physically attractive by the independent judges, irrespective of their own level of
attractiveness. This pattern was also echoed in willingness to ask out the partner on
another date. Females who were rated as physically attractive were frequently asked
out on a second date by males who were not rated as physically attractive.
o Conclusion: Contrary to the Matching Hypothesis, students expressed higher
appreciation of their partner if the partner was attractive, regardless of their own
level of attractiveness.
Physical Attraction Evaluation:
o Walster et al’s original study failed to support the hypothesis, other research has
also failed to provide conclusive evidence.
o E.g. Taylor et al. (2011) investigated the activity log on a dating website and found
that website users were more likely to try and arrange a meeting with a potential
partner who was more physically attractive than them.
o These findings contradicted the Matching Hypothesis as if it was correct, website
users would seek more dates with a personal of similar attractiveness because it
provides them with a better chance of being accepted by a potential partner.
