"Out of my league": a real-world test of the matching hypothesis

The matching hypothesis predicts that individuals on the dating market will assess their own self-worth and select partners whose social desirability approximately equals their own. It is often treated as well established, despite a dearth of empirical evidence to support it. In the current research, the authors sought to address conceptual and methodological inconsistencies in the extant literature and to examine whether matching occurs as defined by Walster et al. and more generally. Using data collected in the laboratory and from users of a popular online dating site, the authors found evidence for matching based on self-worth, physical attractiveness, and popularity, but to different degrees and not always at the same stage of the dating process.     

General principles for treating personality disorder with a prominent inhibitedness trait: towards an operationalizing integrated technique

Psychotherapists need to perform tasks such as being empathetic, performing an ongoing assessment of cases, self-disclosing, making explicit treatment contracts, validating patients' experiences and promoting awareness of psychological experience, if they are to be effective in treating personality disorder (PD). Successful therapy also requires a systematic accurate PD model. We suggest here that it is still unclear how, when, and according to what session markers therapists need to perform specific operations to maximize therapeutic gains. This article describes and operationalizes a step-by-step procedure for organizing and delivering the interventions necessary for effective outcomes, such as maintaining a good therapeutic relationship, increasing understanding of mental states, reducing symptoms and improving social adaptation. The procedure is illustrated by reference to the treatment of cases of emotionally overly-constricted PDs. We include a theoretical proposal to facilitate the development of measures for evaluating the efficacy of therapist actions.