COURTSHIP
- The greater the similarity in physical
attractiveness between the partners, the
more likely that the relationship will
progress to a deeper level of attraction.
- The more the partners’ personalities are
similar, the more likely that the relation-
ship will progress to a deeper level of
attraction.
- The more salient the categorical homoge-
neity of the partners, the more likely that
the relationship will progress to a deeper
level of attraction.
- The more salient the categorial heteroge-
neity of the partners, the more likely that
the relationship will terminate either be-
fore or after reaching a deeper level of
attraction.
- The greater the unfavorable parental in-
trusion, the more likely that the relation-
ship will terminate either before or after
reaching a deeper level of attraction.
- An alternative attraction to the current
partner may arise at any stage of a
couple’s relationship. The stronger that
alternative attraction to either partner, the
more likely that the original couple’s
relationship will terminate.
- The greater the role compatibility of the
partners, the more likely that the relation-
ship will be perpetuated.
- The greater the empathy between the
partners, the more likely that the relation-
ship will be perpetuated.
- The more each partner defines the other
as ‘‘right’’ or as ‘‘the best I can get,’’ the
less likely that the relationship will termi-
nate short of marriage.
- The more a relationship moves to the
level of pair communality, the less likely it
is that the relationship will terminate short
of marriage.
- The more a relationship moves through a
series of formal and informal escalators,
the less likely it is to terminate short of
marriage (Adams 1979, pp. 260–267).
Adams (1979) also provides some warnings
about these propositions. First, some factors (such
as partner’s good looks) have greater salience for
men than for women, while some (such as part-
ner’s empathic capacity) have greater salience for
women than for men. Second, some factors such
as parental interference may have different out-
comes in the long run compared to the short run.
Third, the timing of courtship may bring different
considerations into play, e.g., courtship in later life
such as following divorce or widowhood, or when
children from previous marriages must be consid-
ered (see Bulcroft and O’Connor 1986). Finally,
social class factors may affect the predictive value
of the propositions. There is also a difference
between traditional (male-dominated) and egali-
tarian relationships—the former more often found
in the working class and among certain ethnic
groups, the latter more likely to characterize the
middle class. Thus, the kind of marriage one an-
ticipates (traditional/egalitarian) may influence
the mate-selection process. (See also Aronson 1972
for specifications of the conditions under which
various interpersonal attraction predictors such as
propinquity and similar interests operate).
Further, as courtship has moved away from
the fixed-stage sequence of development, it may
be viewed best from a circular-causal perspective
(Stephen 1985) in which progress is strongly influ-
enced by communication within the couple, lead-
ing to increased or decreased movement toward
marriage.
The timing of marriage may be influenced by
such factors as meaningful employment opportu-
nities for women (which may diminish their moti-
vation to marry), the increasing acceptability of
nonmarital cohabitation and adult singlehood (see
Stein 1981), and the effects of nonmarital preg-
nancy or of various intolerable conditions (such as
violence) in the family of origin. Currently, a num-
ber of scholars are studying each of these topics.
They affect not only the timing of marriage but
also how we define courtship.
Regarding premarital factors that contribute
to later marital adjustment, no scholar has present-
ed evidence to refute Kirkpatrick’s ([1955] 1963)
conclusions: The happiness of parents’ marriage;
adequate length of courtship; adequate sex infor-
mation in childhood; a happy childhood including
a harmonious relationship with parents; approval
of the courtship relationship by significant others;
good premarital adjustment of the couple and
strong motivation to marry; homogamy along age,
