Factors Affecting Attraction in Romantic Relationships: Filter theory

What is field of availables?

Everyone who potentially could form a relationship with a person.

What is field of desirables?

People who share similar attitudes, values and interests.

What is the Ist level of the filter?

Social demography

What is social demography?

Proximity: Most people will form a relationship with people close to them geographically. This is mainly due to chance they will meet, speak or generally become aware of one another.

Physical Attraction: How good looking someone is has been found to be one of the most important factors in initial relationship formation, as well as longer lasting relationships.

What is the 2nd level of filter?

Similarity in attitudes

What is similarity of attitudes?

Most people will come into contact with people from the same social or cultural background. This can also be the case for internal characteristics such as attitudes, or personality traits.

When do the 1st and 2nd levels of filter happen?

Up to 18 months in the relationships (Short term)

What is the 3rd level of filter?

Complementarity of needs

What is the complementarity of needs?

Not all personality characteristics need to be the same, we are often attracted to people who can give us what we lack. A dominating person may like a submissive person.

How intelligent and competent one appears can be influential in how attractive they are.

Evaluation of filter theory: Research support

Kerchkoff and Davies (1962)

• Seven months after initial questioning, couples were asked about how close they felt to each other compared to at the beginning of the study

• They found that attitude similarity was the most important factor up to 18 months

• However in the long term couples complimenting each others needs became the most important factor

Evaluation of filter theory: Lack of temporal validity

• The role of filters have changed over time

• E.g. the use of online dating and apps has increased the field of availables, and means location no longer limits partner choice

• Social changes have also led to relationships that were less common 60 years ago, e.g. between different ethnic backgrounds

Evaluation of filter theory: Reductionist

• Filter theory can be viewed as a relatively holistic explanation of romantic attraction because it considers multiple layers—such as social demography, similarity of attitudes, and complementarity—rather than focusing on a single factor

• This contrasts with other explanations like physical attractiveness or self-disclosure, which are more reductionist as they emphasise one dominant influence on attraction

• However, a limitation is that filter theory may oversimplify the dynamic nature of real relationships

• It assumes that people move through fixed stages in a set order, whereas modern relationships are more fluid and can develop in diverse ways that the theory does not fully account for