Robert Winch's Complementary Needs Theory

Robert Winch was an American sociologist who in the 50s of the 20th century he developed a theory known as "complementary needs theory" in order to explain the factors that influence the attraction between two people so that they could establish themselves as a sentimental couple.

Robert Winch's theory of complementary needs arose from a study of his in which he tried to investigate the ways in which a complementarity was produced among the 25 couples who participated in the study. In it he determined that for two people to fall in love to the point of seeing each other as the ideal couple should complement each other taking into account a series of factors that we will detail more ahead.

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What is the Complementary Needs Theory?

Robert Winch's theory of complementary needs, located within the fields of sociology and social psychology and Oriented towards the study of couple formation, it was developed from a study that Winch carried out with 25 couples in order to

investigate the ways in which complementarity occurred in the selection of partners.

The first step in this process of selecting a potential partner is through dating between both members, once they have previously arranged to make that appointment for the initial attraction that could exist between both of them.

The following steps in the formation of a couple would take place through a series of dates between both members over time that would facilitate the falling in love between both, being the previous step to the establishment of a sentimental relationship.

Winch himself proposed that, in addition to dating being the previous step for falling in love, the most common way to meet that potential partner with which we can have greater complementarity is that it occurs within the environments in which we move habitually.

For this step to take place, according to the theory of complementarity a person chooses who they would like to be their partner by looking at someone who has needs that are complementary to theirs; therefore, if each member of the potential couple saw in the other that there was a complementarity with himself, both would want to take the definitive step of forming a sentimental couple.

In developing the theory of complementary needs, Winch also observed that the people evaluated, in addition to choosing people complementary to them in terms of tastes, values ​​and hobbies as a potential partner, they also looked at other factors such as religion, race, social class, level of education, place of residence, etc. According to this theory, when these factors that we have just listed are common or at least quite similar, they make it easier for two people to become a couple.

In the theory of complementary needs, those people who fit within the complementary factors for a person have been qualified as “field of eligible spouse candidates”, and one of these people could be someone we see on a day-to-day basis (for example, the waiter at the cafeteria where we usually have coffee every morning, a classmate or co-worker, someone who goes to the same gym as us, etc.).

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The idea of ​​opposite poles

It is quite common to hear the idea that "opposites attract", being a topic that Robert Winch also investigated. Although it is true that they can attract each other, this does not mean that it will be lasting. Although we are not going to say that two people who are quite different cannot have a lasting relationship, since by putting both on their side they could find some point in common and further there are other factors that may be more important for a relationship to work in the long term, such as trust, support and mutual respect.

The same happens on the opposite side, and it is that although two people agree on most of the factors that they consider important to want to form a couple, it does not mean that success is guaranteed and it is that as we well know, in the field of relationships it is not all jack, knight and king, but it is something much more complex and there are various factors that influence whether a relationship will work or not.

With respect to the idea that opposites attract, complementary needs theory goes on to say that it is the complementarity that makes it easier for a relationship to work, so that each member of the couple is the support of the other when she needs it (for example, when one arrives in a bad mood from a hard day at work, the other may be there to appease her, when a person is angry for some reason that her partner is there to put the brakes on and help her think clearly before acting or that they can encourage each other mutually).

As we can see, the theory of complementary needs part of an intermediate idea to that of the opposite poles and those that affirm that people who agree on everything will be successful as a couple; that is to say, that having certain tastes, values ​​and even religion or social status, favors that two people could show mutual interest but it is also It is important that they complement each other, because if they coincide in everything and do not find a complementarity, it is possible that the relationship will not last as long as originally thought. beginning.

The theory of complementary needs affirms that it is this complementarity between two people that favors the strengthening of their ties as a couple, so that in addition to The common factors should be important so that there is an attraction between the two, the differences that both have also play in favor, so that they serve for both to be complement. And it is very common that a person feels attracted to another who has traits different from theirs (for example, a shy person who is attracted to another outgoing person and vice versa).

Some examples of people who could become a couple according to the theory of complementary needs would be the following: a secure person with an insecure person, a a dreamy person with another who focuses more on the realistic side of things, an affectionate person and another who is colder, an insecure person with another who is more resolute, etc. That is to say, that complementarity would come to occur, according to this theory, in personality factors or ways of acting, having some previous common factors such as values, beliefs, etc.

Definitely, it is mutual feedback that can make a relationship work in the long run, both members being allies in the sense that each member is the support of the concerns of the other and that the same thing happens the other way around, this being able to be achieved through the active listening, so that they know how they can lean on each other, when needed, and also know when the other person needs help to know how to act at each moment in order to be able to provide that support.

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Main factors that influence the attraction between two people

Now that we have seen in broad strokes what the theory of complementary needs consists of, we are going to explain some important factors for the mutual attraction between two people to occur according to various theories in the field of psychology Social.

1. The similarity within the attraction between two people

Heider's equilibrium theory states that Two people who are similar in various factors will be more attracted to each other than to others with whom they have more differences than similarities., establishing a principle of similarity according to which people who are similar can form a system that is balanced and in harmony, while the opposite could cause discomfort at the level psychological.

On the other hand, a large part of the research carried out in recent decades within the field of social psychology on the attraction between two people state that people tend to be more attracted to others who are similar to them in terms of a series of characteristics, attitudes, values ​​and beliefs.

That affirmation made in social psychology would be a point that there is in common with Winch's theory of complementary needs, since This theory also stated that people tended to be attracted to others who were similar to them in terms of a series of factors, although then they differ in terms of different personality traits and the way of being, this being what forms that complementarity that you spoke of in your theory.

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2. Familiarity in the attraction between two people

According to some social psychological theories about interpersonal attraction, People tend to be more attracted to others who are familiar to them than others who are unknown to us., and this idea may also be supported by the effect of mere exposure. In addition, people tend to pay more attention to those who live closer to them, which favors the establishment of a sentimental bond.

In this sense, the theory of complementary needs also stated that it was a very important factor that both people will reside in the same locality or that at least their places of residence are not at a distance considerable.