Operant and classical conditioning are used to
explain when we will find somone else attractive
Operant conditioning; we find those people attractive who reward us in some way,
rewards could be anything finding them physically attractive, to them smiling at us.
Could be that they have lots of resources or are very kind. If we find a person is a
punishment to be around we are less likely to find them attractive.
Classical condiitioning; we are attracted to those who we
associate with positive things. Example; if we meet someone
on holiday where we are having a good time, we are more
likely to find them attractive than if we meet them at work.
Giffet and Guay (1969); 1. Paricipants asked to draw picture
and an experiment judges their work. The experiment will either
praise their work or be very critical and say its not very good.
The participants is more likely to say they like the experimenter
in the praise condition because they feel rewarded. in the
criticism condition they are more liekly to say they do no like the
experementer. This is operant conditioning
2. An observer watches the participant recieve praise or criticism.
The participant is then asked what they think about the observer.
The paticipant is more likely to say they like the observer in the
reward/praise condition than in the criticism condition
May and
Hamilton (1980)
found that female
participants rate
males as more
attractive when
listerning to
pleasent music
compared to
unpleasent
ARon et al. (2005) found that
large amounts of dopamine are
released during the early
stages of relationship. As
dopamine is the
neurotransmitter associated
with rewards it seems likely
that relationships have a
biological reward that is hard
wired into the brain
Hays (1985) found that all humans tend to gain
satisfaction from giving as well as recieving
The theory sees people as fundamentally selfish and only looking
for rewards. It may be that this is true at the start of the relationship
and so can explain the formation of relationships, but that this may
not be true of longer term relationships. It is likely that other theories,
such as, equity theory may be better at explaining longer term
relationship