A Test of the Theory of Complementary Needs as Applied to Couples During Courtship

OBERT F. WINCH and associates have recently published several articles concerning the theory of complementary needs.' Winch starts with the hypothesis that mate-selection each individual seeks within his or her field of eligibles for that person who gives the greatest promise of providing him or her with maximum need gratification. 2 He further states that there are strong theoretical reasons for believing that within the field of eligibles people tend to mate with those whose need patterns generally complement their own, rather than with those whose need patterns are similar to their own. 3 In their research, Winch and associates define complementariness as follows: When two persons, A and B, are interacting, we consider the resulting gratifications of both to be 'complementary' if one of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) the need or needs in A which are being gratified are different in kind from the need or needs being gratified in B; or (2) the need or needs in A which are being gratified are very different in intensity from the same needs in B, which are also being gratified. 4 first is called type II complementariness and the second, type I complementariness. In other words, complementariness of needs of the type I variety constitute a high-low score combination of a couple on the same need, and type II complementariness is indicated by a highhigh or low-low score combination of a couple on two different needs. sample studied by Winch and his associates consisted of twenty-five Northwestern University undergraduate students and their respective spouses. needs of the members of these couples were measured, using ratings by judges of personal documents. In one part of the analysis of the data resulting from the above research, productmoment correlations between husbands and wives were obtained on a large number of possible combinations of needs and traits. signs of the correlations were hypothesized according to the theory of complementary needs. XWinch concluded that his results tended to support the theory of complementary needs in mate-selection. In view of Winch's findings and the potential importance of the theory if proved, the authors thought it worthwhile to investigate the relationship between needs of couples who were engaged or going steady. According to the theory, the relationship should hold for such a sample as well as for couples already married.5 1 Robert F. Winch and Thomas and Virginia Ktsanes, The Theory of Complementary Needs in Mate-Selection: An Analytic and Descriptive Study, American Sociological Review, 19 (June, 1954), pp. 241-249; Robert F. Winch, The Theory of Complementary Needs in Mate-Selection: A Test of One Kind of Complementariness, American Sociological Review, 20 (February, 1955), pp. 52-56; Robert F. Winch, The Theory of Complementary Needs in Mate-Selection: Final Results on the Test of the General Hypothesis, American Sociological Review, 20 (October, 1955), pp. 552-555; Thomas Ktsanes, Mate Selection on the Basis of Personality Type: A Study Utilizing An Empirical Typology of Personality, American Sociological Review, 20 (October, 1955), pp. 547-551. See also Robert F. Winch, Modern Family, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1952; Robert F. Winch and Robert McGinnis, Selected Studies in Marriage and the Family, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1953. 2 Winch, Modern Family, op. cit., p. 406. 3 Ibid., p. 403. 4Winch, Ktsanes, and Ktsanes, op. cit., p. 243. 5 If the influence of need patterns on mateselection is the focus of study, a married sample presents the problem of determining whether the need patterns have changed since marriage. On the other hand, a sample of couples before marriage leaves open the question of which couples will eventually marry. We hope to get a partial answer to this problem from data collected in a follow-up questionnaire, after a four to six month period, to determine the relationship between need patterns and stability of relationships during this period.