Premium
The effects of romantic motives on numerical preferences
Author(s) -
Kim Aekyoung
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.21354
Subject(s) - romance , psychology , friendship , preference , social psychology , perspective (graphical) , kinship , developmental psychology , sociology , mathematics , statistics , psychoanalysis , geometry , anthropology
The current research considers whether romantic pair‐bond motivations influence numerical preferences. Across cultures and throughout history, the number “2” has been symbolic of a romantic pair bond. We propose that reminders of romance lead people to prefer the number “2” and other associated even numbers. A series of studies demonstrate that romantic motives—goals related to forming a romantic pair‐bond—increase preference for the number “2” and other numbers of its parity (i.e., even vs. odd numbers) as well as marketing stimuli featuring even (vs. odd) numbers. This effect is specific to romantic motives and does not occur for motives related to other social relationships, such as work relationships, kinship, and friendship. Consistent with the motivational perspective, the desire to form a romantic relationship statistically mediates the effect of romantic cues on preference for even numbers. Subsequently, the effect of romantic motives on preference for even (vs. odd) numbers are suppressed when the focal goal has been already achieved (i.e., having a romantic relationship) or when an individual endorses a promiscuous lifestyle (i.e., having multiple partners simultaneously).