Two Key Studies of Biological Theories of Attraction (DP IB Psychology)

The study was carried out on 2 different dates: study 1 in 1978; study 2 in 1982

Both study dates involved using an opportunity sample of 48 female and 48 male students from Florida University 

5 female and 4 male confederates were instructed to place themselves at one of 5 pre-determined points around the university campus

The confederates were approximately 22 years old, similar to the ages of the student participants they would be approaching

Each confederate approached an opposite-sex lone participant and at random made one of the following predetermined requests:

• “I’ve watched you around campus, I find you very attractive” followed by either:

  • “Would you go out with me tonight?”

  • “Would you come over to my apartment tonight?”

  • “Would you go to bed with me tonight?”

The confederates were instructed to only approach participants they found genuinely attractive and whom they would actually consider having sex with.

The request for a date was met with around 50% agreement from both men and women (in both study 1 and study 2)

The request to go to the confederate’s apartment produced 69% of ‘yes’ responses from men but between 0-6% ‘yes’ responses from women (in both study 1 and study 2) 

75% (study 1) and 69% (study 2) of males said ‘yes’ to having sex with the confederate compared to 0% of the women in both study 1 and study 2

In short, around ¾ of the male participants were willing to have sex with a stranger whereas none of the women were willing to do so

Women do appear to operate a system of increased choosiness when it comes to taking risks in their sexual behaviour

Men seem to be more open to a possibly risky sexual encounter with a stranger

The use of naïve participants in a real-life environment makes this study high in ecological validity:

• the participants are unlikely to have been under the influence of demand characteristics due to the well-planned procedure

• the use of confederates who were of their own age and demographic was a good way of ensuring that the participants did not feel suspicious about being approached on campus

• the responses of the participants could be said to be high in mundane realism

The agreement rate in the responses of both male and female participants between the 1978 and the 1982 studies increases the study’s reliability as it shows consistency over time

There would have been a huge array of extraneous variables beyond the researchers’ control:

• how attractive each participant found the confederate

• the social pressures on men to seem always willing to say yes to sex

• Whether the participant was gay

• Whether the participant was in a committed relationship

• Whether the participant (particularly the female participants) felt threatened or alarmed by the request from a stranger

The ethical considerations are hugely problematic:

• the participants were being put ‘on the spot’ and may have reacted with embarrassment, outrage or distress to the request

• it could also be argued that the confederates were being put into a potentially tricky situation, perhaps feeling that they would have to go through with their offer of sex, even if they didn’t really want to

A self-selected sample of 10 female and 7 male students from New York State University

The participants were aged 18-26 years old (mean age = 20 years)

All participants reported that they were ‘in love’ (time spent together from a range of 1-17 months with a mean of 7 months)

Participants were placed in an fMRI scanner

Each participant was shown a photograph of their romantic partner followed by a distraction task

There were then shown a ‘neutral’ photograph of an acquaintance with whom they had no emotional connection

The fMRI showed that the areas of the brain most active when the photograph of the romantic partner was viewed were

• the right ventral tegmental areas in the midbrain

• the right caudate nucleus also in the midbrain

These regions of the brain have been associated with dopamine production which in turn has been associated with motivation and reward

People who are in the early stages of romantic love may access brain regions associated with dopamine release when in the presence (physical or virtual) of their romantic partner

Therefore, it could be said that people become ‘addicted to love’

The findings support previous research into the role of dopamine in substance addiction so it is interesting to see how romantic love may fall under the same framework of craving and withdrawal

A clear link was shown between dopaminergic areas of the brain only when the photograph of the romantic partner was shown:

• this finding increases the internal validity of the study

• this finding adds weight to the idea that Fisher really was measuring the effect of romantic love on the brain 

It could be argued that a sample with a mean age of 20 years are likely to be socially active and involved in pleasure-focused activities:

• the ‘pleasure centre’ of their brains would therefore be more receptive to dopamine

• the same may not have been found if an older sample had been used

• thus the above argument limits the generalisability of the findings

There could be other explanations for the activation of the dopamine-rich areas of the brain being active during the fMRI, for example:

• excitement at taking part in a study

• curiosity as to the outcome of the study

• so the above points mean that Fisher cannot claim cause-and-effect from her findings