Abstract
Individuals prefer romantic partners who universally treat others well (i.e., partners who exhibit trait-level generosity) and also prefer partners who treat them uniquely. Previous work supports both preferences, yet the literature has largely ignored what happens when these preferences conflict. In the present work, we compare these two preferences in romantic relationships by pitting people's preference for trait-level generosity from their partner against their preference for unique treatment from their partner. Across 10 studies, we observe a strong, multifaceted, and somewhat selfish preference for unique treatment that often overwhelms the preference for trait-level generosity. People generally want their partner to offer them relatively better treatment than they offer to others (e.g., their partner orders a larger bouquet for their birthday than for the neighbor's birthday). However, in specific domains and situations, individuals are satisfied with receiving treatment from their partner that is the same as—or slightly worse than—the treatment their partner offers to others, so long as the treatment is unique (e.g., their partner sends everyone a text containing a special inside joke). Further, using a conjoint-analysis approach novel to studying partner selection, we find that partners who offer unique treatment are highly desired and that people are willing to make significant sacrifices in partner attractiveness to receive unique treatment. This preference also impacts how people evaluate and interact with their romantic partners and how satisfied they feel with their relationships.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 103899 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-15 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |
| Volume | 86 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank attendees of the Marketing Academic Research Colloquium and the Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference who provided insights that greatly assisted the research. We also thank our colleagues Aleksandra Rusowicz and Mike Norton for their helpful comments and ideas, Sawtooth Software for their generous academic software grant and April Ruggles for inspiring the original idea. Finally, this work was partially funded by the Whitebox Advisors Doctoral Fellowship and the Yale School of Management International Center for Finance .
Funding Information:
We thank attendees of the Marketing Academic Research Colloquium and the Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference who provided insights that greatly assisted the research. We also thank our colleagues Aleksandra Rusowicz and Mike Norton for their helpful comments and ideas, Sawtooth Software for their generous academic software grant and April Ruggles for inspiring the original idea. Finally, this work was partially funded by the Whitebox Advisors Doctoral Fellowship and the Yale School of Management International Center for Finance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
- Mate selection
- Preferences
- Romantic relationships
- Social Relations Model
- Unique treatment