Describe and evaluate the theories of attraction and relationship formation.

Authors Avatar

Describe and evaluate the theories of attraction and relationship formation (24 Marks)

The matching hypothesis (Walster et al. 1996) states that people are attracted to others of a similar level of attractiveness to their own. We are likely to seek out people similar to ourselves in other attributes such as intelligence etc. There are many possible reasons for our attraction to physically attractive people; there is also the potential cost of rejection from someone who doesn’t see us as physically attractive. Self –esteem also affects this process e.g. people feeling low in self- esteem is more likely to target someone who’s less likely to reject them.  

Murstein (72) provides supporting evidence for this, in the study; photos of faces of ‘steady or engaged’ couples were compared with random couples who were just paired for a photo. The results were that real couples were constantly judged to be more similar to each other in physical attractiveness than random pairs. It was concluded that individuals with equal market value for physical attractiveness are more likely to form intimate relationships. However, no homosexual couples were studied.

There are consequences of mismatching with the matching hypothesis; the less attractive partner may feel unattractive to their partner. Mismatching can also place strains on the couple and threaten their long term success of that relationship. Furthermore, the less attractive person feels insecure and inadequate and also jealous of the attention of their partner.

Join now!

The sociobiological theory, has a central idea, in that the behaviour we have is adaptive i.e. our behaviour can change in order to promote survival and result in successful reproduction. Thus, behaviours that are related to successful relationships will be likely because the genes have been passed on. It is evolutionary.

Males and females should both seek sexual partners who are most likely to produce healthier children; therefore physically healthy partners may be generally preferred. Men may tend to prefer women who are younger than themselves as they’re thought to be more fertile (Buss 89).

Wilson (1975) argues that ...

This is a preview of the whole essay