Attraction Psychology

1123 Words3 Pages

When it comes to romantic partners, similarity can predict the success of a relationship: particularly one where moral values are shared. In the social psychological study of attraction, research has shown that it is similarity rather than complementarity which typically promotes attraction. In the research paper, Birds of a moral feather: The role of morality in romantic attraction and relationship satisfaction, written by Koleva, morality is considered a major aspect in both attraction and relationship satisfaction. Romantic ideals, romantic obtainment, and relationship experiences: The complementarity of interpersonal traits among romantic partners written by Markey et.al. further elaborates the importance of certain belief systems which …show more content…

Koleva further explains each of these three aspects of morality and their importance in attraction. First, moral personality traits are defined as traits that are desirable in the culture where one lives, such as being honest or kind in nature. The Moral Foundations Theory is a social psychological theory which attempts to explain the genesis of and the variety of moral reasoning in humans based on innate and interchangeable infrastructures found within them. In other words, the Moral Foundations Theory argues that human beings have inborn mental and emotional responses in certain given circumstances which tend to guide their actions morally. The vast majority of people favor what is considered desirable and appropriate in their cultures and high morality is often considered the most desirable and appropriate. Therefore, most people want mates who fit their culture’s definition of a “good partner”. Lastly, moral identity is the degree to which being moral is important to a person’s identity. Given the three definitions of morality and their importance outlined above, it can be hypothesized that similarity of morals can attract people to one another and even predict satisfaction in a relationship for the …show more content…

In comparison, the Markey et.al. research paper highlights that the highest levels of relationship quality, which include attraction and the longevity of a relationship, fall under the high-warmth category. Therefore, warmth is considered a moral quality. Due to the fact that warmth is a moral quality, it can therefore be said that similar moral values amongst romantic partners leads to attraction and potentially to long-term relationship satisfaction as well. Based on the combined findings of Koleva and Markey et.al., morality is shown to have an affect on the formation and the quality of relationships in general. According these research findings, the longest-lived relationships are those in which both people share similar levels of warmth and moral understanding. Also, people are more attracted and satisfied in relationships where their partner is opposite in intimate personality characteristics such as dominance or submission. When it comes to morality, individuals in relationships tend to find similar understandings of right or wrong as attractive and, in contrast, find opposite personality traits not involved with morality to be very important in attraction and the maintenance of relationship

Open Document