& Mackie as The motivational principle that people desire to see themselves, and other people and groups connected to themselves, in a positive light. There are a few instances of this in an unrequited love, one example of this is that the "Rejector" sees himself as innocent and sees his rejection of the "Would be Lover" as an attempt to remove himself from the situation although the "Rejector " still feels guilt towards the whole situation. Another example of this is that everyone tends to prefer a maximally attractive partner but tends to end up with a partner roughly equal to one's own attractiveness (Murstein & Christy, 1976). One possible viewpoint on this statement is that the "Would be Lover" may see himself as extremely attractive and therefore desires someone of the same attractiveness. The "Rejector" under the same circumstances may believe that she is much more attractive then the "Would be Lover" and therefore refuse him the date. One more point involving the value of "Me and Mine" was noted by the researchers such that memory and other cognitive processes is questionable (Banaji & Crowder, 1989) which could lead to biased interpretations, or selective recall. These actions were used to help rebuilt the damaged self-esteem of the "Would be Lovers" by basically making them remember themselves in the best possible light (Valuing "Me and mine").The effect of the first impression on the "Would be Lovers" has a great affect on the direction of the relationship. This brings us to the sixth of the overarching themes Conservatism, which is the processing principle that individuals' and groups' views of the world are slow to change and prone to perpetuate themselves (Smith & Mackie). This is probably one of the greatest reasons that many of the "Would be Lovers" are rejected, at some point the "Rejectors " formed a negative opinion of them and that opinion is very difficult to change. This relates very well to the second ove...
