ArticlePersonality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc2021
We're Not That Choosy: Emerging Evidence of a Progression Bias in Romantic Relationships.
Article in Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Why Do You Want a Romantic Relationship? Individual Differences in Motives for Romantic Relationship Pursuit.Personality & social psychology bulletin · 2026Article
- Infidelity Decision-Making by Emerging Adult Women: A Grounded Theory.Journal of marital and family therapy · 2026Article
- Love Is Not Blind: It May Be Indifferent to Partners' Flaws, Unless It Involves Cheating or Aggression.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Beyond Good or Bad: The Four Evaluative Quadrants of Relationships.Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc · 2026Article
- Choosiness as a Predictor of Sexual (In)frequency in Single Heterosexual Adults.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Gender and Patient Preferences: Unraveling the Decision-Making Process for Blepharoplasty Among Males and Females.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
- A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2025Article
- Coping or Thriving? Reviewing Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Societal Factors Associated With Well-Being in Singlehood From a Within-Group Perspective.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Review
- The Effect of Asymmetric Intersexual Selection Power Perception on the Choice Deferral Behavior of Men and Women.Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behaviorArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dating is widely thought of as a test phase for romantic relationships, during which new romantic partners carefully evaluate each other for long-term fit. However, this cultural narrative assumes that people are well equipped to reject poorly suited partners. In this article, we argue that humans are biased toward pro-relationship decisions-decisions that favor the initiation, advancement, and maintenance of romantic relationships. We first review evidence for a progression bias in the context of relationship initiation, investment, and breakup decisions. We next consider possible theoretical underpinnings-both evolutionary and cultural-that may explain why getting into a relationship is often easier than getting out of one, and why being in a less desirable relationship is often preferred over being in no relationship at all. We discuss potential boundary conditions that the phenomenon may have, as well as its implications for existing theoretical models of mate selection and relationship development.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.