Relationships

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Evolutionary explanation for partner preference

  • Buss (1989) tested participants from 37 cultures, finding that males prefer young, physically attractive females, while females prefer resource-rich, ambitious, industrious males, supporting the idea that gender-biased ideas of attractiveness are biological in nature. 
  • Davis (1990) performed a content analysis of personal advertisements, finding that men look for health and attractiveness, while offering wealth and resources. Females look for resources and status, while offering beauty and youth, supporting the idea of evolutionary-based gender differences in relationship formation. Additional support came from Dunbar (1995), who analysed 900 personal advertisements from four US newspapers, to find that 42% of males sought youthfulness, while only 25% of females did. Of males, 44% sought attractiveness, while only 22% of females did, supporting the socio-biological idea that males and females have different reasons for forming relationships. 
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Self-Disclosure

  • Sprecher & Hendrick (2004) studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure – men and women who self-disclose and those who believed their partners did likewise were more satisfied with and committed to their relationships. 
  • Laurenceau et al (2005) used a method that involved writing daily diary entries and found that self-disclosure was linked to higher levels of intimacy in long-term married couples. The reverse was also found to be true – less intimate couples self-disclosed less often. 
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Self-Disclosure

  • Sprecher & Hendrick (2004) studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure – men and women who self-disclose and those who believed their partners did likewise were more satisfied with and committed to their relationships. 
  • Laurenceau et al (2005) used a method that involved writing daily diary entries and found that self-disclosure was linked to higher levels of intimacy in long-term married couples. The reverse was also found to be true – less intimate couples self-disclosed less often. 
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Physical Attractiveness

  • Brigham (1971) found that physically attractive people are seen as having desirable personality characteristics, including being sociable, interesting, exciting and sexually warm, supporting the idea of the Halo effect, where people’s who personality is judged on the basis that they are physically attractive. 
  • Gunnell & Ceci (2010) found that physically attractive people are 22% more liley to be convicted in courts of law and to get prison sentences of on average 22 months longer than physically attractive people. This supports the Halo effect that physically attractive people are generally seen as more trustworthy than lesser physically attractive people.
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Filter Theory

  • Festinger et al (1950) reported that people who lived the closest to the stairways in an apartment block had the most contact with other residents of the block and formed the most friendships with other residents, supporting the idea of social demographic variables affecting the choice of possible partners one could be attracted to. This was further supported by Clark (1952) finding that 50% of citizens of Columbus, Ohio, USA, were married to partners who initially lived within walking distance from their house.  
  • Byrne (1961) found that strangers who had similar attitudes to participants were more liked than strangers with differing attitudes. This supports the idea of similarity of attitudes being a limiting factor in who individuals find attractive.
  • Sadalla et al (1987) found that women are attracted to males who are reliable, socially dominant, self-confident and extrovert, as such qualities indicate an ability to achieve a relatively high position in society and thus meet their need for provision of resources. This supports the idea of complementarity being an important limiting factor in which individuals are desirable as potential partners. 
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Social Exchange Theory

  • Hartfield (1979) looked at people who felt over- or under-benefited in their relationships. The under-benefited felt angry and deprived, while the over-benefited felt guilty and uncomfortable, supporting the theory by suggesting that regardless of whether individuals are benefited, they do not desire to maintain a relationship if it is unequal.
  • Rusbult (1983) asked participants to complete questionnaires over a seven-month period concerning rewards and costs associated with relationships, finding that social exchange theory did not explain the early ‘honeymoon’ phase of a relationship when balance of exchanges was ignored. However, later on, relationship costs were compared against the degree of personal satisfaction, suggesting that the theory is best applied to the maintenance of relationships. 
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Equity Theory

  • Dainton (2003) studies 219 individuals in romantic relationships, finding that those in relationships of perceived inequity had low relationship satisfaction, but were motivated to return to an equitable state to maintain the relationship, suggesting that equity is a main factor in relationship satisfaction and maintenance. 
  • Yum et al (2009) looked at different types of heterosexual romantic relationships in six different cultures. As predicted by equity theory, maintenance strategies differed, with individuals in perceived equitable relationships engaging in most maintenance strategies, followed by those in perceived over-benefited and under-benefited relationships. Cultural factors had little effect, suggesting that equity theory can be applied to relationships across cultures.
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Rusbult's Investment Model

  • Lin & Rusbult (1995) found that although findings were inconsistent, females generally reported higher satisfaction levels, poorer scores for quality of alternatives, greater investments and stronger overall commitment. This suggests gender differences may exist, with females demonstrating greater dependence and stronger commitment than males. 
  • Rusbult et al (1998) gave the investment model scale (IMS) questionnaire to student participants in relationships, to find that commitment in relationships was positively correlated with satisfaction level, negatively correlated with the quality of alternatives and positively correlated with investment size, supporting all three factors of Rusbult’s model. 
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Duck's Phase Model of Relationship Breakdown

  • Kassin (1996) found that women are more likely to stress unhappiness and incompatibility as reasons for dissolution, while men blame lack of sex. Women wish to remain friends, while males want a clean break, suggesting gender differences that Duck’s model does not consider.
  • Hatfield et al (1984) reported that when an individual experiences initial dissatisfaction with a relationship they are burdened by resentment and feelings of being ‘under-benefited’, which leads to social withdrawal so that the individual can consider their position, thus supporting the notion of an intrapsychic phase. 
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Virtual Relationships

  • Yum & Hara (2005) found that American participants reported that greater disclosure in virtual relationships was associated with more trust, while Korean participants reported greater disclosure led to less trust, while greater disclosure was not a factor with Japanese participants. This suggests that the effect of disclosure on virtual relationships is mediated by cultural factors.   
  • Schouten et al (2007) found that people high in social anxiety revealed greater self-disclosure in virtual relationships due to the lack of non-verbal cues in online communications, supporting the idea that people who have problems socialising in the physical world are able to self-disclose more in virtual relationships. 
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Effects of the Absence of Gating

  • Bargh et al (2002) found that intimacy developed quicker with virtual than face-to-face relationships because of a lack of gating features that typically prevent intimate disclosures in fact-to-face relationships. This supports the idea that a lack of gating helps virtual relationships to grow quicker and intimately than face-to-face ones. 
  • McKenna (2002) found that the removal of physical gating features, such as level os physical attractiveness, allowed certain disadvantaged people, such as those with a lack of physical beauty, to bypass the usual obstacle that hinder them from developing intimate relationships in face-to-face settings. This illustrates why a lack of gating features makes virtual relationships so desirable to those who find establishing face-to-face relationships difficult. 
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Parasocial Relationships

  • Meloy (1998) reported that stalkers often have a history of failed sexual relationships and are usually not in sexual relationships at the time of stalking. Stalking in such cases is a reaction to social incompetence, social isolation and loneliness, which suggests that the borderline pathological level of parasocial relationships is related to personal factors.  
  • Maltby et al (2004) found that those in the entertainment social category were mentally healthy, but those in higher categories were prone to poor mental and physical health, suggesting that different parasocial levels are associated with different levels of mental stability.
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Attachment Theory

  • Kienlen et al (1997) found that 63% of stalkers experienced a loss of primary caregivers during childhood, usually due to parental separation, while more than 50% reported childhood emotional, physical or sexual abuse by primary caregivers. This supports the idea that disturbed attachment patterns are related to extreme forms of parasocial relationships. 
  • McCutcheon et al (2006) measured attraction to celebrities, finding that adults with insecure attachment types had positive attitudes towards obsessive behaviours and stalking, and also that pathological attachment types have a tendency to stalk, implying that stalking behaviour is related to childhood attachment patterns. 
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