ABSTRACT
Courtship can be thought of as a social ritual through which the development of romance manifests itself. At some point, it involves a sorting process for finding appropriate mates, a kind of filtering to determine basic compatibility (Duck, 1977). In this regard, the stimulus-value-role theory of Murstein (1987) suggested that courtship begins as a simple exchange of information involving initial impressions of physical attributes followed by an interpretation of individual values, attitudes, and beliefs about a variety of topics that are of interest to each. Once a similarity is noted, the individuals are categorized and assigned to potential roles such as business acquaintance, tennis partner, colleague who likes the history of Russian composers, or potential lover. Further communication and ritualized behavior provide additional information about the partners’ abilities to function in additional roles in preparation for potential roles as mates or parents.
