The Truth And BIAS Model Of The Attraction To Alternative Others

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3422569

The projection of attraction to alternatives was proposed by Neil and Lemay (2019), which is that people in a romantic relationship are attracted to alternative others; they tend to believe that their partner is similarly attracted to alternative others. The Truth and Bias Model (West and Kenny 2011) is a conceptual framework that examines the impact of truth and bias on human judgment by measuring directional bias, tracking accuracy, and projection. The main aim of this research is to examine whether people can accurately detect their partner’s attraction to alternative partners by using the Truth and Bias model. As a moderator, the effects of jealousy, gender, commitment, and life history strategies were also examined. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 117 couples between the ages of 18 and 30, and mixed model analysis was applied. On average, participants were likely to underperceive their partner’s attraction to alternatives, track their partner’s attraction to alternatives accurately, and project their attraction to alternatives to their partner. Jealousy was associated with higher tracking accuracy and lower projection. Females stated lower projection than males. Commitment was associated with a lower projection. A faster strategy was associated with an overperception of the partner’s attraction to alternatives and higher projection. The females had a lower projection than the males. The results of this research show that individuals make projections of attraction to alternatives, as suggested by Neal and Lemay (2019). In addition, it is emphasized that there are cognitive biases that influence attraction to alternatives and infidelity, which future studies should take into consideration.