Further Exploring the Relation Between Uncertainty and Attraction

Montoya, R. Matthew; Faiella, Cassondra M.; Lynch, Bridget P.; Thomas, Stephen; DeLuca, Haylee K.

doi:10.2117/psysoc.2015.84

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…A methodological limitation imposed by these current studies also comes from the continuous scales participants used to report attraction toward targets. These perceptual scales could have been tantamount to indicating ideal mate preferences instead of assessing actual mating decisions or behaviors (see Eastwick, Luchies, Finkel, & Hunt, 2014; Montoya, Faiella, Lynch, Thomas, & DeLuca, 2015). Ipsative scales may have better assessed utilitarians’ STM desirability with participants having to make the trade-off between utilitarian and deontologist in LTM and STM contexts (Jonason, Luevano, & Adams, 2012; Lyons, Marcinkowska, Helle, & McGrath, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality

Brown¹,

Sacco

2017

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Deontological and utilitarian moral decisions have unique communicative functions within the context of group living. Deontology more strongly communicates prosocial intentions, fostering greater perceptions of trust and desirability in general affiliative contexts. This general trustworthiness may extend to perceptions of fidelity in romantic relationships, leading to perceptions of deontological persons as better long-term mates, relative to utilitarians. In two studies, participants indicated desirability of both deontologists and utilitarians in long-term mating (LTM) and short-term mating contexts. In Study 1 (n = 102), women perceived a deontological man as more interested in long-term bonds, more desirable for LTM, and less prone to infidelity, relative to a utilitarian man. However, utilitarian men were undesirable as short-term mates. Study 2 (n = 112) had both men and women rate opposite-sex targets’ desirability after learning of their moral decisions in a trolley problem. We replicated women’s preference for deontological men as long-term mates. Interestingly, both men and women reporting personal deontological motives were particularly sensitive to deontology communicating long-term desirability and fidelity, which could be a product of the general affiliative signal from deontology. Thus, one’s moral basis for decision-making, particularly deontologically motivated moral decisions, may communicate traits valuable in LTM contexts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality

Brown¹,

Sacco

2017

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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“…This signal of trustworthiness could implicate outraged targets as capable of the fidelity necessary for successful LTM. Further, because of the importance of trust in facilitating the approach of prospective mates (Montoya, Faiella, Lynch, Thomas, & DeLuca, 2015;Montoya & Insko, 2008), we further predicted that the basis for the attraction to outraged behavioral repertoires would be rooted in outraged individuals' trustworthiness in relationships.…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Demonstrate values: Behavioral displays of moral outrage as a cue to long-term mate potential.

Brown¹,

Keefer²,

Sacco³

et al. 2022

Emotion

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Recent findings suggest that moral outrage signals trustworthiness to others and such perceptions play a uniquely important role in identifying social opportunities. We conducted four studies (N = 870) investigating how displays of moral outrage are perceived in the specific context of mating. Results indicated participants, particularly women, found prospective mates describing outrage-signaling activism to be more desirable for long-term mating (Study 1), and this perception of desirability was similarly inferred among same-sex raters (Study 2). We further replicated findings in Study 1, while additionally considering the basis of women's attraction toward outraged behavior through candidate mediators (Studies 3). Although we found consistent evidence for the desirability of an ostensibly outraged target, Study 4 finally identified a boundary condition on the desirability of outrage, wherein mere expression of outrage (without activism) was insufficient to bolster attraction. We frame results from complementary perspectives of trust signaling and sexual strategies theory.

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“…In one series of experimental studies, for instance, women reported the greatest attraction to profiles of men when they were uncertain of whether the man liked them “an average” or “above average” amount, compared to when they were certain that man liked them an “above average” amount (Whitchurch et al., 2011). However, in a subsequent investigation, this effect did not fully replicate, as attraction did not significantly differ between the certain liking and uncertain conditions; furthermore, when a within‐subject design was employed, participants became more attracted to the profiles when they gained certainty that the individual liked them (Montoya et al., 2015). These conflicting results may be due to the relatively small sample sizes of both of these studies (47 and 78 participants, respectively).…”

Section: What Is the Source Of Romantic Passion? A Review Of Four Theories/modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What fuels passion? An integrative review of competing theories of romantic passion

Carswell

Impett

2021

Social & Personality Psych

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In an integrative review, we examine four theories and models of romantic passion to determine what causes feelings of romantic passion. Although a growing consensus has emerged for the definition of romantic passion, we suggest that this is largely not the case for the source of romantic passion. We outline how four different perspectives—Limerence Theory, the Rate of Change in Intimacy Model, the Self‐Expansion Model, and the Triangular Theory of Love—propose four different potential sources of romantic passion and review empirical support in favor and against each. For each of these perspectives, we additionally outline the predicted trajectory of passion that follows from each theorized source of passion, as well as each perspective's view on the ability for passion to be controlled and up‐regulated. In identifying ways in which these theories and models offer conflicting predictions about the source of romantic passion, this review points to ways in which a more comprehensive model may be developed that integrates across these four perspectives.

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Further Exploring the Relation Between Uncertainty and Attraction

Cited by 10 publications

References 48 publications

Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality

Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality

Demonstrate values: Behavioral displays of moral outrage as a cue to long-term mate potential.

What fuels passion? An integrative review of competing theories of romantic passion

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