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Do Relationship- and Self-Oriented Deceptions Impact the Effect of Attitude Alignment on Attraction?
Chelsea A Reid1, Hannah L Shoemaker1, Delaney M Wallace1
1College of Charleston.
The Journal of Psychology
|May 27, 2021
Summary
People prefer partners who agree with them. However, deceptive attitude alignment, where partners pretend to agree, is viewed less favorably unless the deception is relationship-oriented.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Relationship Science
Background:
- Individuals value honesty but prefer partners who demonstrate attitude alignment.
- Disagreements can cause discomfort, leading partners to conceal true attitudes through deception.
- Attitude alignment involves shifting one's attitude to match a partner's upon disagreement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how deceptive attitude alignment affects partner evaluations.
- To determine if partner motivation (relationship- vs. self-oriented) influences these evaluations.
- To compare evaluations of honest versus deceptive attitude alignment.
Main Methods:
- A 2x2 between-subjects design examined attitude alignment deception and partner motivation.
- Participants discussed a social issue, then received feedback on their partner's alignment strategy and motivation.
- Evaluations included measures of attraction and favorability towards the interaction partner.
Main Results:
- Partners engaging in deceptive attitude alignment were evaluated less favorably than those using honest alignment.
- Deceptive partners were evaluated more favorably when their motivation was relationship-oriented versus self-oriented.
- Honest alignment generally led to more positive partner evaluations.
Conclusions:
- While honesty is valued, deceptive attitude alignment can damage partner perceptions.
- Relationship-oriented deception may mitigate negative evaluations compared to self-oriented deception.
- Understanding motivations behind attitude alignment is crucial for relationship dynamics.
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