Sociology: An Analysis of Romantic Attraction in Speed-Dating Research

This essay provides a summary and critique of an article by Luo and Zhang (2009) titled "What leads to romantic attraction: Similarity, reciprocity, security, or beauty? Evidence from a speed‐dating study." The article explores the factors influencing initial romantic attraction in speed-dating settings, examining the roles of similarity, reciprocity, security, and physical attractiveness. The authors based their research on responses collected from college students engaged in speed-dating, observing their interactions and administering questionnaires before and after the dating sessions. The study found that physical attractiveness was a significant factor in initial attraction for both sexes, with some support for the reciprocity principle. The critique notes that the study's findings may not be generalizable to older age groups or different cultural backgrounds, as it primarily focused on US college students. Despite its limitations, the essay concludes that the research sheds light on the dating behaviors and attraction factors among college students.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY - ARTICLE REVIEW
SOCIOLOGY - ARTICLE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The attraction of the human beings to one another has been an area of interest and
research for sociologists and the psychologists. The researchers in this article have attempted a
discussion on the rules and the regulations that are maintained or are generally observed among
people who have been researching on the human psychology. The following paper attempts a
summarization and a critique on the given article. The paper also makes an attempt to discuss the
implication of the given study on the society at large.
Topic and Purpose
Luo and Zhang (2009), in the article entitled “What leads to romantic attraction:
Similarity, reciprocity, security, or beauty? Evidence from a speed‐dating study”, discusses the
issues that are related to the attraction that is experienced by the individuals who have been
involved in the activities of speed-dating in the present days. The authors attempt an examination
on the initial attraction that is faced by the people in the initial stages of their relationships. The
research in discussion has been focusing on the differences and the similarities that are exhibited
by the participants in terms of the major attributes that affect the dating choices of the concerned
person. The authors of the article attempted a discussion on the factors that affected the speed
dating among couples in a real-life setting.
Methods, Unique Features and Findings
The authors based their research on the results that were derived from the responses that
were collected from the individual participants. This helped in the developing an estimation on
the issues that were faced by the youth within the country regarding the dating capabilities of the
person. The researches based their studies on the observance of the activities of 108 college

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students who practiced heterosexual practices. The study involved 54 men and 54 women. The
average age of the students was 19.5 years (Luo & Zhang, 2009). The participants were allowed
to date a person for a very short interval of time and then were asked to continue to another date.
The participants were provided with a questionnaire that they had to complete before they moved
on to their next date. The participants were closely observed while they were involved in the
practices of the speed dating set up by the researchers. The major unique feature that was
demonstrated within the methods of the study referred to the fact that the male participants in the
research were allowed to move from one seat to the other after each session of five minutes
while the female participants were seated at the fixed places. The major difference that can be
observed in this case refers to the fact that the complete activity of dating had taken place in an
area that was under the observance of the authors. The participants were made to record the
experiences that they had gathered from the previous date session. The post-event activities were
conducted for the study wherein the participants were asked to fulfill a questionnaire that was
based on the previous experiences of the concerned participants and their perceptions regarding
the partners whom they had met (Luo & Zhang, 2009). The major findings of the researches state
that the major area of attraction for a person is the factor of attraction as is depicted by the
partner. This helps in the determination of the factors that affect the perceptions of the participant
in the initial days. The article observed the differences among the responses that were provided
by the male and the female participants. The initial likings among the people tended to state that
a person was attracted mainly to the appearance of a person and thereafter to the thought
processes of the person.
Critique

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The findings of the research state that the participants are generally attracted to the
appearances and the thought processes of their partners. The study was conducted on the college
students and were known to have been dealing with the factors that are related to the
development of the perceptions of the people who have been involved in the dating activities
(Luo & Zhang, 2009). The findings of the article highlight the dating pattern that is followed by
the students who have been studying in the colleges. However, the study cannot be generalized
till the time the results of the study are not re-assessed on the people belonging to an older age
group. The study is conducted majorly on the students studying in the universities of US and thus
cannot be generalized for the people of varied cultural backgrounds. This leads to the study being
limited to a certain group of people belonging to a particular cultural background (Luo & Zhang,
2009). The other major point discussed in the article refers to the fact that the activity of speed-
dating is not the only way through which a person might meet his or her life partner. The study
reveals that people in general are majorly attracted to the physical beauty of the person in the
initial timings. The study further reveals that there are no differences in the dating behavior of
the participants on the basis of their genders.
Conclusion
In lieu of the above discussion it might be stated that the issues that have been
highlighted by the authors in the article tend to throw light on the dating behavior of college
students. The research had focused on the differences and the similarities that are exhibited by
the participants of the research despite the research being concentrated on the college students of
US.

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References
Luo, S., & Zhang, G. (2009). What leads to romantic attraction: Similarity, reciprocity, security,
or beauty? Evidence from a speed‐dating study. Journal of Personality, 77(4), 933-964.