Factors affecting attraction: Filter theory

Who came up with filter theory and how

Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) by comparing the attitudes and personalities of student couples in short-term and long-term relationships

What is filter theory

An explanation of how relationships form and develop and consists of 3 main factors that narrow down our choices of romantic partners

What is the first level of filter

Social demography - factors which influence the chance of potential partners meeting in the first place. Including proximity, social class, level of education, ethnic group, religion etc.

What is the outcome of the first level of filter

Homogamy - you are more likely to form a relationship with someone who is socially or culturally similar

What is the second level of filter

Similarity in attitudes - partners will often share the same beliefs or values, partly because the field of availables has already been narrowed by the first filter

What did Kerckhoff and David find about similarity of attitudes

That it was important to the development of relationship only for couples who had been together less than 18 months - there is a need for partners in the earlier stages to agree over basic values because it encourages self-disclosure

What did Donn Byrne find

That the consistent findings that similarity causes attraction is the ‘law of attraction’

What is the 3rd level of filter

Complementarity - the ability of romantic partners to meet each others needs

How do partners complement each other and what did Kerckhoff and Davis find out about the need for complementarity

When they have the traits the other lacks - its more important for long-term couples, at a later stage of relationship opposites attract. Complementarity is attractive because it gives partners the idea that together they form a whole

What is a strength

Support from Kerckhoff and Davis’s original study. They conducted a longitudinal study where both partners completed a questionnaire to assess similarity of attitudes and complementarity. ‘Closeness’ was measured in another questionnaire 7 months later. Study found that closeness was associated with similarity of attitudes but only for couples that had been together less than 18 months. For long-term relationships, complementarity predicted closeness

What is a counterpoint to the previous evaluation point

George Levinger (1974) pointed out that many studies have failed to replicate the original findings of Kerckhoff and Davis. He attributed this to social changes over time and problems defining the depth of relationship in terms of length. Kerckhoff and Davis chose an 18 month cut off point to distinguish between short and long term relationships. They assumed partners that had been together longer than this were more committed and had a deeper relationship - questionable assumption meaning filter theory is undermined by lack of validity of evidence base

What is a limitation of complementarity

Complementarity may not be central to all long-term relationships. Research found that in some relationships couples of equal dominance were satisfied. Suggests similarity of needs rather than complementarity may be associated with long-term satisfaction in some couples

What is another limitation

Actual similarity matters less in a relationship than whether partners perceive or believe themselves to be similar. Matthew Montoya et al. (2008) did a meta-analysis of 313 studies and found that actual similarity affected attraction only in very short-term lab-based interactions. In real-world relationships, perceived similarity was a stronger prediction of attraction. One interpretation is that partners may perceive greater similarities as they become more attracted to each other. Therefore perceived similarity may be an effect of attraction and not a cause, which is not predicted by the filter theory