Sociosexuality and Romantic Partner Choice

ABSTRACT In three studies, we explored how individual differences in sociosexual orientation systematically relate to the types of attributes people prefer in romantic partners. In Investigation 1, individuals rated the importance of 15 partner attributes. Two factors emerged: personal/parenting qualities and attractiveness/social visibility. Individuals who possessed a restricted sociosexual orientation rated attributes that loaded highly on the former factor as being more important than those that loaded highly on the second one, whereas the reverse was true for unrestricted individuals. In Investigation 2, individuals evaluated two prospective romantic partners, one who was described as highly attractive and socially visible but less desirable in terms of personal/parenting qualities and one who had the opposite set of attributes. Unrestricted individuals tended to select the former partner, whereas restricted individuals chose the latter one. Investigation 3 examined the attributes actually possessed by their romantic partners. Unrestricted individuals were dating partners who were more socially visible and attractive, whereas restricted individuals were dating partners who were more responsible, faithful/loyal, and affectionate. Results are discussed in terms of an evolutionary model that links sociosexuality to mate selection.     

Personal characteristics,relationship quality,and social support perceptions and behavior in young adult romantic relationships

This study investigated three questions: (1) Do both personal characteristics and perceived qualities of romantic relationships contribute to partners’perceptions of support? (2) Do these variables predict supportive behavior in partner interactions that can be observed by others? (3) How do situational characteristics affect the predictors of observed supportive behavior? Eighty-six university undergraduates and their romantic partners completed a questionnaire packet and participated in a structured videotaped interaction that included a stress-inducing intervention. Participants’perceived support from the relationship was predicted by participants’own personal characteristics and view of the relationship, as well as by partners’personal characteristics. Observed supportive behavior in a somewhat familiar task was related to personal characteristics of both partners and their views of the relationship. Supportive behavior after an experimenter-administered stressor was predicted only by the couple's personal characteristics. Results demonstrate how study of social support in close relationships can advance understanding of relations between support perception and support receipt.     

Orientations toward relationships: Choosing a situation in which to begin a relationship

An investigation was conducted to examine how individuals choose situations in which to initiate relationships. It was hypothesized that individuals' self-monitoring orientation and the characteristics of their relationship partners would interact to determine situation choices. Accordingly, low- and high-self-monitoring men were asked to rate their preferences for interacting in romantic and nonromantic situations with particular types of partners. The characteristics of the partners were varied along two dimensions: physical attractiveness and personality desirability. Results demonstrated that low-, relative to high-, self-monitoring individuals' preferences for interacting in romantic situations were more influenced by the personality characteristics of potential partners. In contrast, high-, relative to low-, self-monitoring individuals' preferences for interacting in romantic situations were more influenced by the physical attractiveness of potential partners. Neither of these effects occurred when preferences for nonromantic situations were assessed. Implications of these differences for the initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of relationships were discussed.     

To Know You is (Not) to Want You: Mediators Between Sociosexual Orientation and Romantic Commitment

Past studies have indicated that individuals with an unrestricted sociosexual orientation (SO; ‘unrestricted’ reflects comfort with sex outside the confines of a committed relationship) emphasize attractiveness and desirability when pursuing romantic partners. Additionally, SO is related to decreased commitment, and ultimately increased infidelity, in a current romantic relationship. Thus, the current study investigates potential mediators between sociosexual orientation (SO) and romantic commitment. Perceptions of a romantic partner’s characteristics such as physical attractiveness, various personality traits, and perceived similarities were examined as mediators. The findings indicate perceived social skills, intellect, and perceived similarities with the partner were all significant mediators between SO and commitment. Additionally, physical attractiveness was a marginally significant mediator. The final mediation model suggests that individuals with unrestricted SOs may have lower commit in their current relationships because participants with an unrestricted SO, compared to participants with a restricted SO, rated their partners as having fewer social skills, less intellect, and also fewer similarities between themselves and their partners.     

Rated importance of personal qualities across four relationships

Are there stable personal qualities that people value in others across a range of personal and professional relationships? For 4 relationship types that varied across social and professional associations (those of "close friend," "romantic partner," "an employee of yours," and "your boss"), participants rated each of 34 personal qualities on the basis of how important it would be in selecting someone for the relationship. The author factor-analyzed the ratings of importance and created composite scores to represent the 4 factors identified (intimacy, dependability, achievement, and kindness). The author found no difference that was due to relationship type for the factor of kindness. The relationship of romantic partners received the highest ratings on the factor of intimacy. Participants rated the relationship of close friends lower than the other 3 relationships for both of the factors of dependability and achievement. The results indicated that people value some qualities the same regardless of the relationship involved, with other qualities varying in importance across these relationships. Of special interest was the tendency of participants to see stable qualities as generally less important for choosing close friends than for choosing the others in the other three relationships.     

Altruism between romantic partners: Biological offspring as a genetic bridge between altruist and recipient

When the cost of altruism is low, individuals are more likely to help non-kin (i.e., friends and romantic partners) than kin. This trend is thought to reflect the fact that people tend to be emotionally closer with friends and romantic partners than kin. However, as the cost of altruism increases, altruistic preference shifts to kin. The present study highlights this phenomenon by examining altruism between siblings, romantic partners, romantic partners who have biological children together, and romantic partners who have adopted children together. Participants (n = 203) completed a questionnaire about altruism in low-, medium-, and high-cost situations. Participants gave more low-cost help to their romantic partners (regardless of whether they had a child together) than their siblings. More medium-cost help was given to romantic partners who had a child (biological and adopted) than siblings and romantic partners without children. In the high-cost condition, the estimated altruistic tendencies were stronger toward siblings and romantic partners who have a biological child than toward romantic partners with no children and partners with adopted children. Participants also believed they were more altruistic than their siblings and romantic partners.     

Romantic relationships in early adulthood: Influences of family,personality, and relationship cognitions

Two hundred and sixty‐five participants and their romantic partners were involved in a prospective, longitudinal, and multimethod study during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Guided by the development of the early adult romantic relationships (DEARR) model (Bryant & Conger, 2002), the research (a) investigated mid‐adolescent family experiences and individual differences in personality as predictors of qualities in the early adult romantic union and (b) evaluated the degree to which marital beliefs mediated these associations. Structural equation modeling partially supported the mediating effects of marital beliefs. The findings were generally consistent with the DEARR model, suggesting that it is informative to study early adult romantic relationship functioning within a developmental‐contextual framework, while simultaneously considering the unique effects of personality and relationship cognitions.     

Stayovers in emerging adulthood: Who stays over and why?

Emerging adulthood is an intense period of personal development and interpersonal exploration; most emerging adults engage in several romantic relationships of varying commitment levels throughout their late teens and early twenties. The current study explored whether one relationship behavior, staying over, is related to specific demographic characteristics, previous experiences, and personal beliefs and attitudes. A sample of 627 emerging adults were surveyed about their experiences with staying overnight with their romantic partners, their reasons for doing so, and their attitudes about full‐time cohabitation. Participants who were older, had cohabited at some point, lived independently from family, viewed religion as unimportant, and had positive attitudes about cohabitation were found to be more likely to stay over.     

爱的权衡：在付出与索取中保持或恢复心理衡平感

在爱情关系中, 如何付出和索取才对自身和关系发展有利, 这是爱情关系双方和心理学家都想知道的问题。根据社会交换理论和相互依赖理论, 情侣之间的付出和索取可以被称之为爱情交换, 已有大量研究探讨了它的基本心理过程。近年来, 心理学家提出新的理论, 用以解释爱情交换的复杂的心理机制。他们的观点得到实证研究的支持。所有这些理论和研究结果, 为论述爱情交换的基本原则、特点以及影响因素提供了丰富证据。未来研究可以更多地关注爱情交换过程中情感的作用, 以及自动化过程和有控制的过程。     

More than words: reframing compliments from romantic partners fosters security in low self-esteem individuals

Although people with low self-esteem (LSEs) doubt their value to their romantic partners, they tend to resist positive feedback from their partners. This resistance undermines their relationships and has been difficult to overcome in past research. The authors investigated whether LSEs could be induced to take their partners' kind words to heart by manipulating how abstractly they described a recent compliment. In 3 studies, LSEs felt more positively about the compliments, about themselves, and about their relationships--as positively as people with high self-esteem (HSEs) felt--when they were encouraged to describe the meaning and significance of the compliments. The effects of this abstract meaning manipulation were still evident 2 weeks later. Thus, when prompted, LSEs can reframe affirmations from their partners to be as meaningful as HSEs generally believe them to be and, consequently, can feel just as secure and satisfied with their romantic relationships.     

Physical attractiveness, romantic love, and equity restoration in dating relationships

Measures of physical attractiveness, romantic love, and dominance were given to a sample of 123 dating couples. Contrary to expectation, attractive subjects were not loved more than those judged as less attractive. As suggested by equity theory, however, subjects who believed that their partners were the more attractive member of the dyad loved their partners more (p < .05) and indicated greater submission in their relationships (p < .01) than those who believed that they were the more attractive member. The results suggest that as the dating relationship progresses, the relative difference in attractiveness between partners may become a more important determinant of attraction than overall level of attractiveness.     

Responses to verifying and enhancing appraisals from romantic partners: the role of trait importance and trait visibility

An experiment assessed when people respond more positively to verifying and enhancing appraisals from romantic partners. Two‐hundred and fifty‐eight individuals comprising 129 dating couples participated in this research. Couples privately rated their self‐concept on traits that were either high or low on trait visibility, rated how important each trait was to them, and rated their partners. A computer program ostensibly compared their self‐ratings with appraisals from their partners on traits they selected as being high or low in personal importance, and participants received either verifying or enhancing feedback. Confirming predictions, people believed their partners understood them more when they received verifying feedback, but felt their partners saw the best in them when they received enhancing feedback. Additionally, people responded more positively to verifying appraisals on important, less visible traits, and enhancing appraisals on important, highly visible traits. Results are discussed in terms of preferences for enhancing and verifying feedback in romantic relationships. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adult attachment and dating strategies: How do insecure people attract mates?

When asked to choose among secure or insecurely attached partner prototypes, research shows that people tend to select secure individuals as their first choice. Despite this pattern, not everyone chooses secure partners in reality. The goal of this study was to examine the ways in which insecure individuals present themselves that might make them attractive to others. To achieve this goal, participants were led to believe that they were interacting with a possible date. That insecure individuals presented themselves as warm, engaging, and humorous people when communicating with potential mates were found. These findings suggest that insecure people have numerous dating tactics and positive qualities that they display to win over romantic partners.     

Physical Attractiveness,Romantic Love,and Equity Restoration in Dating Relationships

Measures of physical attractiveness, romantic love, and dominance were given to a sample of 123 dating couples. Contrary to expectation, attractive subjects were not loved more than those judged as less attractive. As suggested by equity theory, however, subjects who believed that their partners were the more attractive member of the dyad loved their partners more (p < .05) and indicated greater submission in their relationships (p < .01) than those who believed that they were the more attractive member. The results suggest that as the dating relationship progresses, the relative difference in attractiveness between partners may become a more important determinant of attraction than overall level of attractiveness.     

Sich verlieben und die große Liebe

Although romantic love plays an important role for many people, empirical studies on romantic love have only been carried out recently. This article describes the results of a questionnaire on romantic love completed by 606 volunteers. The results show that nearly everyone has had the personal experience of falling in love at least once. According to the reports in the questionnaire, men and women do not differ with respect to the frequency and to the velocity with which they fall in love. Women, however, more often believe that their respective partner has fallen in love at a relatively early stage, whilst men believe that their respective partner has fallen in love only later. Both men and women exhibit distinct physical and emotional phenomena when they have fallen in love – women more pronouncedly than men. The quality of the relationship between men and women appears to be better if the partners have initially fallen in love with each other. From the point of view of couple therapy, the quality and quantity of being in love appear to be less important than the methods of coping with it, i.e. accepting that the initial romantic love period may not stay forever but must be replaced by another type of love, or accepting that a couple can also have a highly satisfactory relationship, although there was no initial period of romantic love.     

Implicit romantic fantasies and women's interest in personal power: a glass slipper effect?

Three experiments investigated the relationship between women's romantic fantasies and their interest in personal power. Romantic fantasies (associating partners with chivalry and heroism) were assessed using the Implicit Association Test and self-reports. In each experiment, women's implicit romantic fantasies were dissociated with their conscious beliefs. More important, implicit (but not explicit) romantic fantasies negatively predicted women's interest in personal power, including projected income, education goal, interest in high-status jobs, and group leadership appeal. By contrast, men's implicit romantic fantasies were not routinely linked to their interest in personal power. In concert, the findings are consistent with positing a "glass slipper" effect for women that may be an implicit barrier to gender equity.     

Trait Self‐Esteem Moderates the Effect of Initiator Status on Emotional and Cognitive Responses to Romantic Relationship Dissolution

ABSTRACT We hypothesized that the effect of initiator status on post breakup distress would vary as a function of trait self‐esteem, such that individuals with low self‐esteem would experience more distress after being rejected by their partners, whereas, among individuals with high self‐esteem, initiator status would not predict distress. We used a prospective design in which university students (N=66) were assessed for emotional responses following the dissolution of their real‐life romantic relationships, as well as a laboratory design in which students (N=190) imagined breaking up with their partners. As predicted, participants with lower trait self‐esteem exhibited greater distress after experiencing or imagining a romantic rejection than after ending or imagining themselves ending their relationships. Conversely, distress experienced by those with high trait self‐esteem did not differ as a function of who ended the relationship. Implications for understanding self‐esteem processes and the effects of romantic rejection are discussed.     

Attachment as a Function of Parental and Partner Approach-Avoidance Tendencies

This two-part investigation develops a new scale of parental attachment that includes the previously under examined form of role reversal, or being a caregiver for one's parent, and explores the contention that romantic attachment is more dyadic than originally conceived, in that it is a function of an interaction between parental attachment style and specific partner romantic attachment style. It was expected that the most secure partners would have secure attachments with their parents and partners who report their own secure romantic attachment, that the most preoccupied partners would have been anxious-ambivalent in their attachment to their parents and paired with dismissively avoidant others, and that the most dismissively avoidant partners would have been role reversed by their parents and paired with preoccupied partners. Support for this expanded model was found, in that parental and partner attachments both influenced the final form of romantic attachment, with partner attachment appearing to have more influence than parental attachment. The relationship of romantic attachment style to the subsequent communication outcome of self-disclosure was also explored. Results supported expectations, with security relating positively to intentional and honest self-disclosure, preoccupation relating negatively with honesty, and dismissive avoidance relating to greater positivity and less honesty.     

Psychosocial vulnerability from adolescence to adulthood: a prospective study of attachment style differences in relationship functioning and partner choice

Using a prospective research design, this study explored whether attachment style during adolescence forecasts the nature and quality of romantic relationships in early adulthood and investigated two general pathways for explaining these effects. Black and White community residents were first interviewed in adolescence at which time they completed a self-report measure of attachment style. Approximately 6 years later, they participated in a follow-up interview along with their current romantic partners (N = 224 couples). Results revealed that insecure attachment in adolescence was a risk factor for adverse relationship outcomes in adulthood, although the effects were most consistent for avoidant attachment. Avoidant adolescents were involved in relationships that they (and their partners) rated as less satisfying overall; they also engaged in fewer pro-relationship behaviors, and perceived that their partners engaged in fewer pro-relationship behaviors. In addition, avoidant adolescents were involved with partners who had less healthy personality profiles. Results for anxious-ambivalent and secure attachment were weaker, more complex, and moderated by gender. This study provides the first prospective evidence that avoidant attachment places individuals at risk for adverse relationship outcomes and highlights potential pathways through which this occurs.