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.

约会被广泛认为是恋爱关系的一个测试阶段，在此期间，新的恋人会仔细评估彼此的长期契合度。然而，这种文化叙事假设人们有能力拒绝不合适的伴侣。在本文中，我们认为人类偏向于亲关系决策，即有利于浪漫关系的发起、发展和维持的决策。我们首先审查关系建立、投资和分手决策中存在进展偏差的证据。接下来我们考虑可能的理论基础——进化的和文化的——这可以解释为什么进入一段关系往往比摆脱一段关系更容易，以及为什么处于一种不太理想的关系中往往比没有任何关系更受欢迎。我们讨论了这种现象可能具有的潜在边界条件，以及它对现有的择偶和关系发展理论模型的影响。