ABSTRACT
Modern humans face a social milieu teeming with possible romantic alternatives. Even after accounting for individual differences in the ability to attract romantic partners, however, not everybody responds to this social milieu in the same way; people differ markedly in how they attend to, evaluate, and pursue romantic alternatives. In the present chapter, we (a) employ the principles of regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) to examine the strategic motivations that might underlie these differences, and (b) review a recent series of studies investigating the interplay between regulatory focus and individuals’ responses to romantic alternatives (Molden, Finkel, Johnson, & Eastwick, 2008). We explore the idea that individuals who are broadly oriented toward eagerly pursuing gains (promotion-focused individuals) generally attend more closely to romantic alternatives, evaluate them more positively, and pursue them more vigorously than do individuals who are broadly oriented toward vigilantly protecting against losses (prevention-focused individuals).
