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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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Mate evaluation theory.

Paul W Eastwick1, Eli J Finkel1, Samantha Joel1

  • 1Department of Psychology.

Psychological Review
|April 7, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mate Evaluation Theory (MET) explains relationship compatibility by highlighting the target-specific lens over the feature lens. It also addresses how repeated interactions in relationships reduce reliance on initial attraction cues.

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Relationship Science

Background:

  • Two puzzles exist in mate evaluation: low compatibility effects and differing attribute importance in initial vs. established relationships.
  • Existing research struggles to explain why certain individuals are compatible and how partner features influence evaluations differently across relationship stages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce Mate Evaluation Theory (MET) to resolve key puzzles in understanding mate evaluation and compatibility.
  • To propose a framework explaining how individuals form evaluations of romantic partners using four distinct information sources.

Main Methods:

  • Applied the Social Relations Model to conceptualize evaluative constructs as comprising target, perceiver, and relationship variance.
  • Proposed four information sources for mate evaluation: common lens, perceiver lens, feature lens, and target-specific lens.

Main Results:

  • Argues that relationship variance in compatibility is primarily derived from the target-specific lens, not the feature lens.
  • Suggests that increased interaction in established relationships expands the target-specific lens, diminishing the influence of the common lens.

Conclusions:

  • MET offers a novel explanation for compatibility by emphasizing idiosyncratic target-specific evaluations.
  • The theory reconciles differing effects of partner attributes across relationship stages by accounting for interactional dynamics.