The saying "no man is an island" refers to the way that we have a constant need to form and maintain social bonds. For most of us, the most important social bonds that we form are those with our intimate relationship partners. The purpose of this project is for you to explore the factors that people report as being important in initiating close personal relationships.
For this project, you should ask 5 single (unmarried and unattached) females and 5 single (unmarried, unattached) males what they notice first in a relationship partner. Then, ask 5 committed (married or in relationship for more than 1 year) females and 5 committed (married or in relationship for more than 1 year) males what they noticed first about their current partner.
Your data table should include
In your paper, you should hypothesize about the important factors for initiating a relationship. Your main hypotheses should be related to gender. How do males and females differ in the characteristics they mention? Did you expect differences, but not find them? Secondary hypotheses should focus on the differences between things people mention in a hypothetical partner as compared to an actual partner. Do people look for the same things? Do they change in what they might remember looking for (e.g., they once looked for physical appearance, but now are drawn to their partner's personality). Which group is most likely to mention personality characteristics? Which group is most likely to mention physical characteristics? Finally, you should explore further hypotheses related to the specific participants that you selected. For example, if you have a difference in age between your participants, how does age affect the first thing noticed about the relationship partner? If your participants are divorced, do they mention different characteristics than the participants who have never been married? How much is the search for a new partner guided by characteristics of past partners?
Your 2 page paper should describe your results. Focus on WHY you got the results you did, not how they differ from your expectations. This paper is worth 8 points and is due November 28th, 2001.