Article ‘‘Although Quite Nice, I Was Somehow Not Attracted by That Person’’: Attitudes Toward Romantically Committed Opposite-Sex Others Are Immune to Positive Evaluative Conditioning Nicolas Koranyi 1 , Anne Gast 2 , and Klaus Rothermund 1 Abstract Individuals who are motivated to find a romantic partner do not only have to detect desirable mating options but also have to prevent becoming committed to attractive but unpromising contacts. We thus propose that an acquisition of highly positive evaluations of already romantically committed opposite-sex others is prevented by self-regulatory processes. In two experiments, positive evaluative conditioning (EC) effects were obtained for facial photos (conditioned stimulus) of other opposite-sex singles when these pictures were paired with positive trait adjectives or odors (unconditioned stimulus). In line with our hypothesis, however, this positive EC effect did not obtain for faces of other persons who were presented as being already involved in a romantic relationship. The results demonstrate that the acquisition of positive attitudes during mate searching is modulated by self-regulatory processes that inhibit the emergence of futile commitments. Keywords self-regulation, mate searching, romantic relationships, evaluative conditioning In order to initiate a romantic relationship, individuals have to find a suitable partner, which is often referred to as the mate- search goal (e.g., Maner, Gailliot, Rouby, & Miller, 2007). Recent research has increasingly examined self-regulatory mechanisms that underlie successful mate-searching behavior, especially mechanisms involved in the rapid detection of desirable mates. 1 These processes include spontaneous atten- tion allocation and approach tendencies toward opposite-sex others (in case of a heterosexual orientation) who are both perceived as attractive (Hofmann, Friese, & Gschwendner, 2009; Koranyi & Rothermund, 2012b; Maner, Gailliot, & Miller, 2009; Maner et al., 2003) and display reciprocal roman- tic interests (Koranyi & Rothermund, 2012b). Relatively little is known about whether self-regulation during mate searching involves anything more than a rapid detection of desirable and promising mating options. Neverthe- less, it is clear that simply spotting attractive mates is by far not the end of the story. Whenever individuals detect potential part- ners, they need to form a first attitude toward that person, which determines whether further courting efforts are carried out (Bredow, Cate, & Huston, 2008). Sometimes, however, developing a positive first attitude toward a potential partner can be maladaptive and actually undermine successful mate searching. In many cases, individuals encounter attractive potential relationship partners that are unavailable. For example, the person of interest might already be romantically committed and not interested in an affair or a romantic reorien- tation. Unavailability can also result from an extreme discre- pancy between one’s own and the other’s attractiveness or mutually exclusive sexual preferences. If individuals, however, form positive attitudes toward someone who is (currently) una- vailable, they run the risk of perseverating in courting efforts that are doomed to fail and are likely to suffer from distressing and aversive rumination about the blocked and frustrated goal. Thus, successful self-regulation during mate searching might comprise preventing the development of positive attitudes toward mating options that are currently unavailable. Inhibiting the emergence of such conflicting attitudes would allow indi- viduals to selectively invest their resources into mating options with high chances of dating success and to reduce the risk of experiencing rejection. 1 Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany 2 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Corresponding Author: Nicolas Koranyi, Friedrich-Schiller-Universita ¨t Jena, Institut fu ¨r Psychologie, Am Steiger 3, Haus 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany. Email: nicolas.koranyi@uni-jena.de Social Psychological and Personality Science 4(4) 403-410 ª The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1948550612467037 spps.sagepub.com at Thuringer Universitats - und on July 15, 2013 spp.sagepub.com Downloaded from