10.1.9

Factors Affecting Attraction: Filter Theory 1

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Filter Theory

Filter theory tries to explain how people go about choosing romantic partners.

Filter theory

Filter theory

  • For romantic relationships to form, both partners tend to share certain factors, such as geographical location, ethnic group or attitude.
  • But we won’t necessarily find all the people within this pool or ‘field of availables’ desirable.
  • Filter theory says that people help themselves in their selection of romantic partners by applying three ‘levels of filters’ to the pool of available candidates.
__Kerckhoff and Davis (1962)__

Kerckhoff and Davis (1962)

  • Kerckhoff and Davis (1962) first proposed filter theory.
  • They compared the attitudes and personalities of student couples in short-term (under 18 months) and long-term relationships.
  • They suggest that in our choice of romantic partner, we progress through three levels of ‘filtering’ to narrow down the pool of available partners to a field of ‘desirables.’
Gating features

Gating features

  • Gating features act as a filter, allowing us to decide who is and who is not a potential partner.
  • Gating features are easily detected face-to-face e.g. physical attractiveness, age, social class, race, sexuality, and gender, or other features such as stuttering, shyness, social anxiety etc.
  • These gating features often prevent people who are less attractive or socially competent from developing relationships. Online, a person can be whoever they want to be and gating features are not immediately evident.

Filter Theory: Social Demography

The first level of the filter is called social demography.

Definition and assumptions about partners

Definition and assumptions about partners

  • Social demography refers to factors that influence the chances of potential partners meeting each other.
    • E.g. location/proximity, social class, education level, ethnic group and religion.
  • It is assumed that potential romantic partners are likely to live close, have attended the same school or university or share similar social circles.
Filtering partners

Filtering partners

  • According to filter theory, even though the range of potential partners is vast, people generally filter out those who are seen as too different.
  • This means you are more likely to form a romantic relationship with someone who is socially or culturally similar to you.
Role of effort

Role of effort

  • Social demography doesn’t discount the possibility of relationships forming beyond these parameters.
  • But living further away, for example, would certainly limit the chances of a relationship forming in the first place.
  • This is partly because it's less effort to meet people who live in the same area or who go to the same school or university.
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Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)

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