Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
Chapter 5
Love & Marriage
Introduction275
5.1 Evolution of Attraction 276
Why are we attracted to some people more than others?
(a)
(b)
(c)
Evolution and Behaviour
Testosterone and Attraction
Evolution and Attraction
5.2 Pheromones and Behaviour
276
278
280
283
How might pheromones influence attraction?
(a) Pheromones: An Introduction
(b) Androstadienone
(c) Androstadienone and Attraction 5.3 Culture and Attraction 283
285
286
289
How might cultural values affect attraction?
(a)
(b)
(c)
Cultural Values
Mate Preference For Love or …?
289
291
293
5.4 Communication and Relationships 296
Why are some couples happier than others?
(a)
(b)
(c)
Positive Communication Negative Communication
Biology and Communication
5.5 Culture and Relationships 296
298
300
302
How can cultural factors influence divorce?
(a)
(b)
Culture and Relationships Attitudes Towards Divorce
302
304
Conclusion307
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Introduction
They met on the set of a Hollywood film, although he was still married at the time
and she had kids from a previous marriage. Nevertheless, they got married, adopted 3
children and had three more of their own. In all, they shared their love and their lives
with six children and were married for ten years. And then it was over.
We’re not going to analyze Brangelina. I introduce their relationship here because
it contains many elements that we are going to look at in this chapter on love and
marriage.
Firstly, Brad Pitt is widely regarded as an incredibly attractive man, and has been
for the past 30 years. What makes him so attractive? Perhaps Pitt’s facial features and
physique signify that he has good genes and this is why he is attractive. Angelina Jolie
is rather beautiful as well, and although we won’t have time to investigate the feminine
characteristics that males typically find attractive, it does make for interesting extended
research if you’re interested.
Sadly, like many married couples, Brangelina’s love did not last. The significant
increases in divorce rates in the US and many other countries has prompted extensive
research into marriages in order to understand why some succeed and others fail.
We are going to investigate some of this research to get an insight as to why some
marriages might end in divorce, while others last a lifetime. As with other units, one
of the important concepts we are investigating is the fact that if we can understand
underlying origins, perhaps we can
implement better treatment and prevention strategies.
But attraction and the prevalence
of divorce are different from culture to
culture. Would Bollywood experience
rates of divorce as high as Hollywood?
Also in this chapter we’ll be looking at
how cultural values might be relevant in
the study of the formation and dissolution of marriages.
Romantic relationships are fundamental to the human experience and
so they’re worth exploring. In this
chapter you’ll be exposed to a tiny
selection of possible answers to some
important questions surrounding love
and marriage. As always, it’s important
that you are basing your psycholog- The role of attraction in relationships is just one topic we're going to explore in this chapter.
(Image credit: Georges Biard, wikicommons.com)
ical understanding on the empirical
evidence provided, and that you are
thinking critically about your own understanding based on that evidence.
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Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
5.1 Evolution of Attraction
Why are we attracted to some people more than
others?
(a)
To procreate is a biological
way of saying to have babies.
An evolutionary explanation of
behaviour is one that explains
how a particular behaviour
can help us to survive and/or
pass on our genes. A deeper
explanation would include how
the biological traits that are
likely to be passed on facilitate
a behaviour that enables
survival and/or procreation.
Evolution and Behaviour
The biological purpose of life is to procreate. In other words, living organisms need
to produce offspring so genetic material can be passed on from generation to generation. If you think about it, if organisms didn’t reproduce then their species would
become extinct. This biological purpose in life is not to be confused with the meaning
of life; these are separate concepts altogether.
In the study of criminology we focused on understanding the biological factors
that influence aggression and how these might be explained from an evolutionary
point of view. That is to say, those biological factors increase our chances of survival,
which increases our chances of being able to procreate, so these biological traits are
more likely to be passed on. When small mutations in our genes result in behavioural
changes that increase our chances of procreation they increase the likelihood of the
new (mutated) genes being passed on to offspring. Over thousands of years these small
mutations add up to significant developments. Thus, the process of evolution takes
hundreds of generations as biological changes are a result of slight mutations in genetic
material that compound over time.
Much like other biological aspects in our psychology course, evolution is another
one we have to skim over. To recap from earlier topics, the key concept for you to
understand is that genes will be passed on if they affect our biology in a way that influences our behaviour and increases our
chances of survival.
In terms of evolutionary explanations of behaviour we need to identify a
particular behaviour that we can examine
from an evolutionary standpoint. That is
to say, we need to be able to explain how
and why one particular behaviour could
increase our chances of survival (i.e.
passing on our genes). The fact that this
behaviour has enabled survival is why
it would be observable today. You could
do this with many behaviours, but what’s
important in psychology is that you have
the research to support your explanation.
Fear, fear conditioning and aggression are three such behaviours that
could be explained from an evolutionary
standpoint. The behaviour we are going
to focus on in this section is attraction,
and more specifically, physical attraction.
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"Masculine" facial features include a square jawline
and a low brow.
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Attraction to particular facial characteristics might increase our chances of having
strong and healthy babies because they signal who has “good” genetic material. It’s
important to remember that in human procreation, 50% of the genetic material comes
from either parent, so we want to make sure we select our mate carefully. There’s an
evolutionary advantage in procreating with someone who is going to increase the
likelihood of producing healthy offspring. This is the key to attraction: we may find
ourselves physically attracted to someone who shows particular characteristics that
suggest they would be a good person to have babies with. Attraction to particular
individuals may be a result of biological processes influencing our perception and
judgement of characteristics that signify a beneficial mate who has the genes we want
for our offspring.
A mate in a human biological
sense is someone we want to
procreate with.
Sex hormones like testosterone can influence physical development and appearance and in the next section we’re going to investigate female attraction to facial characteristics that signify varying levels of testosterone.
Guiding Question:
How might evolutionary processes influence attraction?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Hypothesizing Missing Links: Many students make the mistake of trying to say
how evolution can explain the behaviour without first explaining how evolution
could explain the existence of the biological factor that is influencing behaviour. By
this stage in the course you should have a sound understanding of how biological
factors can influence our behaviour. So the chain of effect is that if we behave in
a way that increases chances of survival, the biological factor that facilitates that
behaviour will be passed on through our genes. And then the biological factor that
was passed on will increase the likelihood of offspring behaving in the same way,
and so on. This is quite complex to understand, but could you apply this explanation
to one particular behaviour and its biological correlates?
If you’re interested…
The BBC released a four episode series called “Human Instinct.” Episode 2/4
is called “Deepest Desires” and includes an exploration of sexual attraction
and behaviours.
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Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
(b)
You may be bored with
testosterone and if you want
a different hormone to study,
make sure you study the
role of cortisol in the stress
response and its effect on
memory and the hippocampus
in the PTSD chapter.
As an alternative to
testosterone, you could
do some research on how
estrogen may influence
female characteristics and the
effect this has on attraction in
males. There is considerable
research in this area.
Testosterone and Attraction
Testosterone is a sex hormone that is produced primarily in the testes of men,
which is why it’s considered the male sex hormone. It is responsible for the physical
changes during puberty that help a boy become a man. Some of the effects of testosterone are the growth of body hair, broadening of the shoulders, deepening of the
voice, and lowering of the brow and squaring of the jaw – essentially, the development
of “masculine” features.
As you can see in the criminology chapter, high levels of testosterone may influence
aggression, particularly in response to social threat. A male with high levels of testosterone may be more physically capable of maintaining social status by facilitating
aggressive actions and being competitive. A female might be attracted to high levels of
testosterone as they signal an ability to protect and provide for her and her offspring.
If a male can maintain high social status he will have access to more resources, which
would be able to support the female as she carries and raises the babies. Remember, we
are talking from an evolutionary point of view, so we have to think about what “social
status” might mean over the past centuries.
Other studies also correlate secondary sex characteristics with good health and
strong immune systems. A secondary sex characteristic is a visible physical trait that
enables gender differences between males and females to be identified, without being
directly related to sexual reproduction. Masculine facial features and other signs of
masculinity that begin to occur at puberty are examples of secondary sex characteristics. One explanation for why masculine features signify good health is that they
require high levels of testosterone. One explanation for this is that high levels of testosterone suppress the function of the immune system, so only healthy males with strong
immune systems would be able to cope with the release of high levels of testosterone
that would be needed to develop strong secondary sex characteristics, like a masculine
face (Little et al., 2011).
There is a lot of research investigating attraction. Specific research focuses on
comparing how a female’s menstrual cycle may influence what she finds attractive.
Several different studies have all shown that females tend to have a stronger preference
for masculine faces around the time of ovulation, when they are most likely to become
pregnant. Johnston et al. (2001) tested this by gathering 42 female participants from
New Mexico State University in the lab and asking them to view male and female faces
on a computer. The researchers created computer images that could be manipulated
by the participants, so they could drag a cursor and make the faces more masculine
or feminine. The researchers asked the participants to choose different faces that met
different “targets.” For example, one of these targets was “an attractive male face,” so
participants were asked to manipulate the face until it best met that description.
Women are most fertile at
the ovulation stage of their
menstrual cycle.
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The results showed that when females were at the stage in their menstrual cycle
with the highest chance of conception, they had a stronger preference for masculine
faces. Of all the different targets (e.g. attractive female face, healthy looking male/
female face, etc.) the stage of their cycle only significantly changed their opinion on
the “attractive male face.” This suggests that the attraction to a masculine face was
higher around ovulation and less at other times, and it was the only preference that was
affected by the changes in hormones that occur during the menstrual cycle.
These results corroborate other similar findings that suggest hormones play a key
role in attraction in two ways. Levels of testosterone can influence a male’s attractiveness by signifying his suitability as a mate. Also, the hormonal changes in a female
during the menstrual cycle may also affect what type of male face she is more attracted
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to, and might increase the chances that during the fertile stage of her cycle she will be
more attracted to signs of good genes for procreation.
Guiding Question:
How might hormones influence attraction?
Testosterone was chosen for
this section as it has good
connections other topics,
including pheromones that
you’ll learn about later in this
chapter.
Critical Thinking Extension:
Gender Bias: What do males find attractive? While this study deliberately has a
limited gender perspective because it’s focusing on what females find attractive,
it nevertheless limits our understanding of attraction in all humans by focusing
on only one gender. It’s not a methodological limitation of the study because the
aim of the study was specifically to focus on females, but it is a limitation of the
applications of the study in understanding attraction across humans. One way
of demonstrating abstract thinking skills is to raise these kinds of questions in
your answers. Moreover, you could do some additional research into studies that
investigate the types of faces that males find attractive.
If you’re interested…
The US Documentary Channel released a 45 minute documentary called
“The Science of Sex Appeal.” In this video you can see an interview with
Lisa Debruine discussing studies similar to the one above. She is one of the
researchers who worked with Jones in the above study and has conducted
a lot of research in this field. This is one of many resources that explore the
plethora of factors involved in attraction and sexual behaviour.
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Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
(c)
Evolution and Attraction
Johnston et al.’s study from the previous section may be criticized on the grounds
that it was conducted in one particular culture. Just because these results were obtained
in New Mexico, USA, does this mean they would be consistent across cultures?
If behaviour is consistent
across cultures it may suggest
a biological basis for that
behaviour, as humans are
biologically similar around the
world.
While David Buss’ study (1989) doesn’t investigate the same specific variables as
Johnston et al., it does provide some insight into cross-cultural similarities in attraction. By gathering data from 10,047 participants across 37 cultures, Buss was able to
see if men and women around the world desired the same qualities in a mate.
He also hypothesized that gender consistency in attraction to particular characteristics across cultures would suggest an evolutionary explanation for this attraction.
This is because if humans from many different parts of the world value the same traits
in a mate of the opposite gender, it suggests that this attraction is not being influenced
by cultural factors. It is far more probable that this attraction is operating at a biological
level.
Buss' study did find a cross-cultural similarity in gender preferences when it comes to age
Social status is important for
many reasons. It’s important
that you can understand
how social status might
be important for survival,
including across different
cultures and time periods.
One of the first aims of the study was to compare the differences in preferences
between men and women. Buss hypothesized that due to evolutionary pressures,
males and females would prefer different traits and that this would be consistent across
cultures. That is to say, males from all cultures would desire similar characteristics.
One of his hypotheses was that males would prefer a female who was younger. The
results showed that this was the case and across all 37 cultures males preferred mates
who were younger. This can be explained from an evolutionary perspective as females
are most fertile in their early 20s, and fertility decreases after this age (Buss, ibid).
From an evolutionary standpoint, males wouldn’t want to exert effort and resources
into trying to procreate with a female who lacked fertility. The health risks of carrying
a baby to full-term also increase with age, so from a male’s point of view it would be an
advantage to have a youthful mate who has a higher probability of being able to take
care of the offspring and ensure the successful passing on of genes.
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Even though Buss didn’t specifically predict it, the results also showed that across
all culture females preferred a mate who was older. This could also be explained from
an evolutionary perspective: having a higher social status would enable a male to
provide better protection and resources for a female and her offspring. As there is a
lot of physical investment in carrying a baby to full-term and raising a baby, a female
would be at an advantage if she had a male who could provide and support her and her
baby. An older male would have a higher probability of being higher in social status
and rank, which might explain why females showed preference for older males.
There were some other interesting cross-cultural differences that were found in the
study, and these will explored in the next topic. However, you may want to try to apply
an evolutionary explanation to the following results:
• Females placed higher value on financial prospects than males
• Males placed a higher emphasis on “good looks”
• Males from 23 of the 37 cultures placed higher emphasis on chastity than females
Buss’ study provides more
evidence for the role of
evolution in attraction.
Attraction is often a key
factor in forming a romantic
relationship. But is this the
same across cultures? We'll
explore this idea later in the
chapter.
Guiding Question:
How does Buss’ study suggest that evolution can explain attraction?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Area of Uncertainty/Alternative Explanation: While Buss’ study does provide
some evidence to suggest that there is an evolutionary basis for mate preference
and attraction, are there other possible factors that could explain these gender
differences in preferences?
If you’re interested…
The complete study of Buss’ is available online and the language is accessible
for most IB students.
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Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
Relevant Topics
• Evolution and behaviour
• Hormones and behaviour
• Formation of relationships
Practice Exam Questions
•
•
•
•
Discuss one or more evolutionary explanations of behaviour.
Explain how one hormone may affect one behaviour.
Discuss the formation of personal relationships.
Discuss research related to the formation of personal relationships.
Research Methods
Johnston et al.’s study could be classed as a quasi-experiment as the variable
that is having an effect is the female’s time of the menstrual cycle. The assumption is that physiological changes during this time influence what the women
find attractive. While the effects of this variable are investigated, the participants
cannot be randomly allocated to conditions and it is not the researcher who is
manipulating the IV. This is why this study could be considered a quasi-experiment. This type of study can be useful in understanding the correlation between
menstrual cycle and attraction to masculine faces as it can provide valuable data
that supports evolutionary explanations of behaviour.
Ethical Considerations
Anonymity would be an important characteristic in any study where an individual is offering information about preferences to something as personal as what
they find attractive. Imagine if they had a partner who was opposite to what they
rated as being attractive. This could cause harm to an existing relationship.
Confidentiality (e.g. not telling people who participated in the study) might
also be important as those in existing relationships may become jealous at knowing
their partner was participating in a study about attraction.
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5.2 Pheromones and Behaviour
How might pheromones influence attraction?
(a)
Pheromones: An Introduction
We have looked at numerous examples of how chemical messengers may affect
our behaviour. Hormones like adrenaline and testosterone are transmitted through
our blood while neurotransmitters like serotonin are transmitted through the process
of neurotransmission. There is also evidence to suggest that there is another type of
chemical messenger that is transported in a different way.
A pheromone is a type of chemical messenger that is transmitted from one individual to another through the air and is detected through the sense of smell in the
receiving individual. Their technical definition is: “substances which are secreted to
the outside by an individual and received by a second individual of the same species,
in which they release a specific reaction, for example, a definite behavior or a developmental process…” (Verhaeghe et al., 2013).
The olfactory system is the
name given to the parts of our
sensory system that enables
us to smell things.
Pheromones have been studied extensively in animal research and there is considerable evidence to suggest that they do influence animal behaviour. But there is much
debate as to whether or not they affect human behaviour.
Animals have a specific part of their olfactory system that detects most pheromones and this is called the vomeronasal organ. Part of the reason why there is much
debate as to whether or not pheromones influence human behaviour is that there is
no evidence that the vomeronasal organ functions in the human olfactory system.
We have this tissue in our bodies up until birth, but most of the evidence suggests it
doesn’t function after birth. However, many animals detect pheromones through their
sense of smell, so it is possible that humans may still detect pheromones through smell
(Verhaeghe, ibid).
During mating season many animals give off signals that try to increase the likelihood of procreation. Stags
"roar" and spread their scent to attract females.
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There is evidence that suggests pheromones may play a role in the mating process
of animals. For instance, studies as far back as the 1960s show that presenting a female
pig with the scent of a boar (male pig) will result in the female adopting a mating
readiness stance (Cutler, 1999). The specific pheromone that might have this effect has
been identified as androstenone.
Even though humans’
vomeronasal organ apparently
doesn’t function anymore, we
may still detect pheromones
through our sense of smell.
To see if vomeronasal organ tissue was required to detect androstenone, Dorries et
al. (1997) blocked the vomeronasal organ in one group of domestic pigs. They administered androstenone to this group, as well as to another group of control pigs. The
results showed that there was no difference in the behaviours of the two groups of pigs
as a result. This provides some evidence for the fact that the vomeronasal organ is not
needed to detect pheromones. If this is the case, it could mean that pheromones might
be able to be detected by humans through their regular sense of smell. Remember that
humans and animals have very similar biological processes, which is why animals are
often used in psychological research.
This section is designed to give you a general overview of what pheromones are
and how they might work. The following sections provide you with more detailed
information about how another pheromone, androstadienone, might work alongside
secondary sex characteristics to signify good quality genes.
Guiding Question:
How does the study on domestic pigs suggest pheromones may be capable of
affecting human behaviour?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Hypothesizing: You have probably learned by now that detailed explanations
of variables and behaviour include providing explanations of how the variable
influences the behaviour. Can you hypothesize how the detection of pheromones
through the olfactory system may result in an observable action?
If you’re interested…
If you like newts, livescience.com has an interesting article called “Newt
Pheromones Put Females into Mating Frenzy.”
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(b)
Androstadienone
In the previous section you were introduced to a new kind of chemical messenger
that is only recently being studied in some detail in regard to its effect on human
behaviour. While the study on female boars might suggest that the pheromone androstenone may affect behaviour, it didn’t provide much insight into how it may affect
behaviour in humans. The following study introduces a new pheromone that has been
studied in humans and provides some insight into its role in the sexual behaviour of
humans.
Androstadienone is found in male sweat and may help females in the process
of selecting a suitable mate. Whereas testosterone may influence mate selection by
providing visual signs of health and fertility, androstadienone may send signals
through the sense of smell.
Studies have tested the relationship between smell and attraction by having males
wear a t-shirt for a few days and then place them in a bag for females to smell. The
results of this research suggest that humans may give off signals through smell that
suggest if one is a good match to procreate with (e.g. Wedekind, 1995). But studies
like this only show that smell might facilitate attraction and appropriate mate selection
and they don’t necessarily investigate pheromones. I mention this study here because
it simply provides some evidence that smell can affect attraction by providing a signal
of good quality genes.
One study that did
investigate androstadienone specifically was
by Saxton et al. (2008)
who conducted a study
using androstadienone
during speed dating
tests. The researchers
placed cotton wool
under the nose of female
participants. There were
three conditions as
the cotton wool either
contained androstadiAndrostadienone is released under the arms of men and has the strongest
impact on females.
enone mixed with 1%
clove oil, 1% clove oil
only, or just water. The
clove oil was used to make the control and the pheromone smell the same. This was
hoped to isolate the chemical reaction as the factor affecting the behaviour, not the
pleasantness or unpleasantness of the smell of the pheromone.
The results of two out of three of the studies showed that the females who were
exposed to the androstadienone rated males as being more attractive than those that
had just water or clove oil. This suggests that the pheromone androstadienone that is
given off in male sweat may act as a chemical messenger to increase feelings of attraction in a female.
But yet again we are faced with the issue that we’ve seen before: this research doesn’t
fully explain how pheromones may affect our behaviour. In the next section you will
see how androstadienone may work together with visual signals to send signals that
facilitate mate preference.
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Even though humans’
vomeronasal organ apparently
doesn’t function anymore, we
may still detect pheromones
through our sense of smell.
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Guiding Question:
How does the above evidence suggest that pheromones may influence human
behaviour?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Hypothesizing: From an evolutionary stand-point, could you provide plausible
reasons why a sense of smell might be important for attraction? Hint: electricity.
If you’re interested…
The New York Times has an article that explores the sweaty t-shirt study
further called “Studies Explore Love and the Sweaty T-shirt.” While this study
isn’t about pheromones, it could still be used in other parts of the course,
including the formation of relationships, the role of genetics in behaviour and
evolutionary explanations of behaviour.
(c)
Mate quality is another
scientific term used to
describe how suitable
someone might be to mate
with. Remember that “quality”
refers to the suitability in being
able to produce healthy babies
that are likely to survive and
be able to keep passing on
genetic material.
Androstadienone and Attraction
In the previous section you were introduced to the idea that attraction might be
influenced by smell. Being attracted to particular smells might help us choose a quality
mate. Androstadienone may affect the attraction of females through their role of
signaling mate quality. This male pheromone has been shown to have a stronger effect
than androstenone on female vomeronasal organs (Jennings-White, 1995 as cited in
Cornwell). It also activates different parts of the hypothalamus in men and women
(Savic, 2001), which could affect gender responses to this androstadienone.
Cornwell et al. (2004) exposed participants to male and female pheromones,
including androstadienone, and compared the results. Their participants were 56 male
and 56 female participants between the ages of 17 – 26 who were recruited from the
University of St. Andrews, Scotland. While the study also measured male preferences
in females, to be consistent, we will only focus on the female side of this study.
Participants were shown faces from a range of ethnicities and the faces ranged in
appearance from 50% feminized to 50% masculinized. The women were asked to rate
which face they would prefer for a short-term or long-term relationship. After they
were shown the photos, they were asked to smell five different vials. In these were
androstadienone, androstenone, a female pheromone, and two control oils (one was
clove oil and the other was oil of cade).
The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the female’s
preference of masculine facial characteristics and their preference for the smell of
the androstadienone (the masculine pheromone). This suggests that preference for
masculine facial characteristics corresponds with a greater liking for masculine smells.
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The researchers conclude that pheromones and facial characteristics might work
together by revealing an individuals mate quality. For instance, if a male has high
concentrations of androstadienone and a masculine face it could provide two indicators for a female that he has high testosterone levels. This could be an indicator of
dominance and/or good overall health (Cornwell et al., op cit.).
From this study, we start to get a better understanding of how androstadienone
might influence attraction. It could work like other signs of mate quality in that it
shows potential female mates that the male giving off the scent of the androstadienone
would make for a good mate because he has desirable genetic material (e.g. high levels
of testosterone). So while facial characteristics can send a visual signal, pheromones
may work by sending signals through the sense of smell.
Dominance in this context
is another way of saying the
ability to maintain a high
social status. It’s closely
connected with aggression
and competitiveness, which
are also correlated with
testosterone. For instance, the
ability to display aggression
might help maintain
dominance.
It is important to note that there are numerous factors that influence attraction and
we are only looking at a very select sample. Also, there are many individual differences
in preference between males and females in attraction. We’ve looked at this from a
biological view, but haven’t properly considered how other variables like cognition and
culture may affect relationships. This will be the subject of the next topic.
Guiding Question:
How might androstadienone influence behaviour?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Ethics: Men and women have dreamed for centuries of a “love potion.” What are
the possible practical and ethical implications of the findings from studies like
Cornwell et al.’s?
If you’re interested…
These sections have addressed how pheromones may increase feelings of
attractiveness. One study measured male responses to the smell of female
tears. You can find a summary of the article online. It’s called “Woman’s tears
contain chemical cues.”
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Chapter 5: Love & Marriage
Relevant Topics
• Pheromones and behaviour
• Hormones and behaviour
Practice Exam Questions
•
•
•
•
Discuss evolutionary explanations of behaviour.
Explain one study related to pheromones and behaviour.
To what extent do genetics influence behaviour?
Explain how one pheromone may influence human behaviour.
Research Methods
Cornwell et al.’s study is a good example of a field experiment. A speed-dating
situation is a naturally occurring event and the researchers manipulated the
variable of detecting pheromones during participation in this event. By showing
that pheromones might affect attraction in a real life setting, the study can add to
the growing body of evidence that suggests pheromones affect human behaviour.
Ethical Considerations
When conducting field experiments debriefing becomes incredibly important.
The speed-dating study is a great one for discussing the role of debriefing. On the
one hand, if a female’s perception of a male was altered because of the pheromone
it might be beneficial to inform her of this. However, in doing so a potential future
relationship might be jeopardized as she may disregard initial feelings of attraction as just being a result of the pheromones. Would it be more ethical to inform
the participants which group they were in, or simply say there were three different
groups?
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5.3 Culture and Attraction
How might cultural values affect attraction?
(a)
Cultural Values
The previous topics were designed to show you how biological factors may influence
attraction. But only looking at personal relationships from a biological perspective is
reductionist. Here you’ll see how cultural values may influence attraction and this
section is designed to recap the concept of cultural values and Hofstede’s descriptions
of cultural dimensions. What we think is important might be affected by our cultural
environment.
In the previous section we examined biological origins of attraction and how
hormones, face shape and genetics could influence attraction. But it is important that
we don’t overlook the role of attraction in deciding to ask someone on a date, because
after all, the formation of a romantic relationship most probably begins with the first
stages of attraction. It makes sense if you think about it, but this is not always the case,
like in cultures that have arranged marriages and we’ll look at those later.
Let’s first look at romantic relationships where people do get to choose whom they
take on a date. It probably begins with attraction. When you hear the word attraction you might be thinking about physical attraction. But attraction is more than just
physical. Have you ever been physically attracted to someone you’ve just met and then
after getting to know them you thought that you would never want to date them…
ever? Or has the opposite happened? You thought, “well they’re not much to look at…”
… but then you become good friends and you start hanging out and then you realise,
“Hey, I think I'm in love.”
A cultural dimension is a term
used to describe two opposing
sets of cultural values.
Cultures may vary along the
continuum of which set of
values they most embody.
We can see in this section
another example of how
psychology is about
understanding relationships:
how we think may be affected
by our cultural background,
and this might affect our
behaviour.
Again we are seeing in psychology and in relationships that it’s not just biology;
getting to know someone could also affect our desire to form a romantic relationship
with them. As we’ve seen in previous sections an influential factor in our thought
processes can be our cultural background. Depending on the culture we’re from we
may have different values and these values may affect our judgement. We’re going to
look again at how cultural values could affect the way we think about a potential mate.
To recap, according to Hofstede’s descriptions of cultural dimensions there is a
tendency in individualistic cultures to place higher value on independence and stress
the importance of individuals taking care of themselves and their immediate family
(e.g. husband, wife, kids, and parents). Having the power and the right to be an individual and to make your own decisions (individual autonomy) and self-expression are
also highly valued.
On the other hand, in collectivist cultures people may be defined by their relationships and their obligations more than by their personal achievements. Individual
autonomy and self-expression are not encouraged and group harmony is more
important than individual achievement. Individuals in collectivist cultures can expect
their relatives or in-group members to look after them in exchange for loyalty to the
group. Basically, a society's point on this continuum is reflected in what has more
emphasis – “I” or “We”.
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When you use the term group
harmony, make sure you
think carefully about what
you mean. What group are
you referring to? What does
“harmony” look like in that
group? Many students love
to use this term, without fully
considering what it means.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to remember that these are very broad
generalizations and you need to remember that when describing these cultures and
cultural values. Think about which cultural dimension you most identify with and how
would you feel if someone said, “You’re from a collectivist culture so you don’t value
self-expression”, or, “You’re from an individualistic culture so you don’t think about
keeping harmonious relationships in your family.” We can and do make generalizations in psychology – but we always have to make sure we remember they are in fact
generalizations.
Guiding Question:
How might cultural values influence attraction?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Economics and Culture: Part of understanding psychology is also connected to
understanding other subjects. Economic factors can affect cultural values. Can you
think about how and why economic factors may affect cultural values?
If you’re interested…
You can view interviews with Hofstede on YouTube or visit his website at
geert-hofstede.com to learn more about cultural dimensions.
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(b)
Mate Preference
In this topic we are going to revisit a concept closely associated with attraction,
mate preference. In biological terms to “mate” means to procreate and so a “mate”
in that sense means a person you would like to have babies with. In Buss’ study he
investigated mate preference by gathering data on what types of characteristics were
preferred when choosing a mate. From this study you were shown the cross-cultural
similarities in mate preference, which provide evidence for evolutionary explanations
for the gender differences in mate preference. However, Buss also gathered data on
cross-cultural differences.
Buss measured mate preference by having participants fill out a questionnaire
asking participants questions about how desirable particular traits were (such a good
looks, chastity, ambition, social status, financial prospects, etc.) They also gave them
a list of certain characteristics and they asked the participants to rank them in order
of how important they are when considering whom to marry. Examples of these characteristics were attractiveness, good earning capacity, and ambition. The data were
analyzed and correlations between cultural dimensions and mate preference identified. One of the correlations found was that females from collectivist cultures placed
a higher value on traits like social status and ambition, when compared with females
from individualistic cultures (Buss, 1989).
There are multiple possible explanations for the correlations Buss found and I will
provide you with only one and do so on the proviso that you remember that this is just
one interpretation. You are encouraged to challenge, disregard or elaborate on it. The
key is that you understand from these results just how cultural values may affect the
formation of relationships.
When identifying research
methods there are often
grey areas. For example, is
Buss’ study an example of a
correlational study or a natural
experiment?
Our cultural values may influence how we think. This could affect how we view potential mates.
One possible explanation for the fact that females from collectivist cultures might
place a higher value on social status and ambition could be based on the increased
value placed on the thoughts, feelings and opinions of members of the extended
family, which is valued more in collectivist societies. Because in modern society social
status is obtained by wealth, in order to bring pride to the extended family it might
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be important to raise social status. For this reason if a man already has social status
it might make him more attractive. Similarly, if he has ambition it might not matter
if he doesn’t have status and wealth now, the ambition will increase the chances he
will have in the future. Through being successful in terms of status and wealth a man
may have a higher chance of bringing pride to the female’s family and/or raising the
status of the entire family if a union is formed, thus making him more desirable. This
would be considered important to the wider family. So this isn’t to say that status and
ambition are not valued in individualistic cultures (remember that females across
cultures valued these traits), but that it’s one possible reason why it’s more valued in
collectivist cultures.
But this was only one explanation of one of the results. Could you come up with
your own explanation of the results? And there were other results as well. The table
below shows other results from the study.
Males
Females
Males from individualistic cultures
tended to place less emphasis on
domestic skills.
Females from individualistic
cultures tended to place less emphasis
on ambition and financial prospects.
You’ll notice that these results can be examined from either viewpoint. That is to
say, you could begin by thinking “Why might collectivist values place higher emphasis
on social status.” Or, “why might individualistic cultures place less emphasis on social
status?” An excellent explanation is one that could do both!
Guiding Question:
How might cultural values influence mate preference?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Tolerating Uncertainty: Many students want to make concrete statements and
generalizations. Critical thinkers realize that the world is not black and white and
that explanations of correlations are not always definitive answers. What are some
reasons why we cannot make definitive claims about cultural values and mate
preference based on Buss’ study alone?
If you’re interested…
Buss’ whole article is available online for free (“Sex Differences in Human
Mate Preferences”) and the language is mostly accessible for DP students.
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(c)
For Love or …?
As you saw in the previous section, cultural values may affect the way we think
about prospective partners for mating and marrying. Another important factor that
culture may affect is how we think about the role of love in a relationship. Before we
explore this idea, it might be worth taking some time to think about your own interpretation of the word “love.”
Throughout history and in many modern societies marriage is not about the love
between two individuals, it’s about the union of whole families. Will you consider
marrying someone you don't love, but who is chosen for you by your family?
When discussing concepts
like love, it’s important to
actually think about what the
word means. There’s no point
offering a definition here, as
it’s one of those concepts
that is better understood
through reflection rather than
explanation.
In this section we’re going to continue our investigation into the extent to which
cultural values may influence the formation of a marriage. We’re going to look at the
varying importance placed on love by some cultures over others. This also becomes
important when we try to understand why marriages might be more likely in some
cultures to dissolve (e.g. end in separation or divorce).
In cultures like Pakistan
and India, divorce rates are
incredibly low when compared
to places like the United States.
There are multiple possible
reasons for the differences
in these divorce rates and
once again it’s important to
remember that we are only
looking at a very limited scope
of possible explanations.
Levine et al. (1995)
conducted a cross-cultural
study on college students from
eleven different cultures that
compared the importance people from different cultures placed on love when deciding
whom to marry. The researchers measured attitudes towards the importance of love in
a marriage by asking the following question:
Would you marry someone who had everything you wanted in a
mate, but you didn't love?
•
“If a person had all the qualities you desired, would you marry them if you
weren’t in love with them?”
The participants answered “Yes”, “No” or “Neutral” and the data were analyzed.
This question is assessing the extent to which love is a key ingredient in the decision
to choose a marriage partner. What would your answer be? If you could “build” your
dream life-partner that had everything, but for whatever reason you didn’t love them,
would you marry them?
Levine et al. hypothesized that attitudes towards the importance of love in getting
married would be different in collectivist and individualistic cultures. The results did
in fact find that participants from India, Pakistan and Thailand were the most likely
to answer “Yes”, they would marry someone they didn’t love if they had all the right
qualities. They also found a very strong correlation for love being a pre-requisite for
marriage in individualistic countries like the USA, the UK and Australia. That is to
say, participants from these countries were more likely to require being in love with
someone in order to marry them. These results suggest that there is a correlation
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between the culture someone comes from and the value they place on love when
getting married.
A common saying is that in
individualistic countries people
marry the person they love, in
collectivist countries people
love the person they marry.
One possible explanation for these results is based on earlier work by Triandis
(2001), who has investigated Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. He proposes that in
collectivist cultures, social norms and duty are more important than personal pleasure
(Triandis, as cited in Levine et al.). This might explain why love is not as important
to forming a marriage in cultures such as India and Pakistan: in these collectivist
cultures other factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding whom to
marry. Social norms such as the practice of arranged marriages and having parents and
extended family members heavily involved in the match-making process mean that
the individual’s choice in their partner is limited. They also might feel that it’s their duty
to follow their parents’ wishes and agree to marry the person who has been chosen for
them. And since love is a really about individual choice, we can see that love might not
be such a factor when forming marriages in these cultures.
From this section it’s hoped that you have been able to see how cultural factors
might also affect feelings of attraction and the formation of a marriage. These same
variables will become important later in this chapter when we think about cultural
factors that add to explanations of why marriages might end in divorce.
Guiding Question:
How might cultural values influence the formation of a marriage?
Critical Thinking Extension:
Population Validity: Like many other studies, Levine et al.’s 1985 study compared
the preferences of college students. Could you explain why the results from this
demographic might not be generalizable to older age groups? What variables might
influence a change in perception as people get older?
If you’re interested…
The issue of arranged marriages is an important and often controversial
one. There are many documentaries available online about this practice that
you may be interested in watching. For example, there are at least two TED
Talks that deal with this topic. One is for the case of arranged marriages
("Ira Travedi: The Case for Arranged Marriages") and the other is opposed
("Sabitina James: My Flight From an Arranged Marriage".)
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Relevant Topics
• Culture and behaviour
• The formation of relationships
• Interpersonal relationships
Practice Exam Questions
• To what extent do sociocultural factors affect the formation of relationships?
• Discuss one or more influences of culture on behaviour.
• To what extent do cultural dimensions affect one behaviour?
Research Methods
As with Buss’ research, Levine et al.’s study is another example of the value
of using correlational studies when investigating behaviour across cultures. It’s
impossible to isolate cultural values as an independent variable to be manipulated
in the laboratory, so correlational methods must be used. By gathering data across
cultures and using questionnaires to quantify behaviour, the researchers can draw
conclusions about cultural differences in approaches to relationships.
Ethical Considerations
An important part of informed consent is providing participants with the
knowledge that their results will be anonymous and their participation confidential. This is important from a methodological validity viewpoint, as it will increase
the probability that participants will give honest answers. Participants from
cultures that practice arranged marriages, for instance, may not feel comfortable
expressing opinions that may go against this practice (e.g. in a study like Levine et
al.’s). Assuring them before the study that their results will be anonymous and their
participation confidential will improve the validity of the data and will reduce
their psychological stress during the study.
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