Lecture 4: Relationships

Question 1

Formation: need for affiliation

Answer 1

• Need to form positive and lasting interpersonal relationships
• Lack of social contact can cause serious long term consequences (Harlow)

Question 2

Formation: Proximity and Similarity

Answer 2

• Proximity allows for familiarity and the expectation of continued interaction
• Proximity and similarity may be even more important to elderly people living in residential care (Roberts 2018)
• Assortative mating based on background and personality ect.

Question 3

Formation: Reciprocity

Answer 3

• There are important individual differences, like attachment style and self-esteem.
• We like most those who initially don’t like us then start to like us
• We dislike most those who initially like us but become cold or distant

Question 4

Formation: Disclosure

Answer 4

• Failure to notice the info or dismiss the disclosure as unimportant can have consequences
• There are premature disclosures, dishonest and factual disclosures ect.

Question 5

Formation: Physical attractiveness

Answer 5

• There is cross-cultural agreement on physical attractiveness
• Friends tend to be of a similar attractiveness (Bleske-Rechek & Lighthall,2010)

Question 6

Maintenance: Signalling commitment

Answer 6

• Yamaguchi 2015
• Pro-relationship acts used to signal commitment to a friend or romantic partner are similar
• Failing to display appropriate signals (like forgetting a birthday) is more detrimental to a romantic relationship than a friendship.

Question 7

Maintenance: Shared activities

Answer 7

• In romantic relationships there are declining expressions of affection and perceived responsiveness after 2 years
• Shared activities lead to additional opportunities to understand each other and disclose information; leading to relationship satisfaction

Question 8

Maintenance: Support

Answer 8

• Support provided by a partner is unique and difficult to replace
• How partners respond to positive events is important
• Broaden and build theory (Frederickson 2001): Experience and expression of positive emotions. Expands how we attend and respond to events. Builds recourses for maintaining well-being

Question 9

Maintenance: Intimacy process model

Answer 9

Relationship maintenance: behaviour and strategies to ensure the relationship will continue
- It is a framework for understanding daily exchanges and their impact on intimacy

Question 11

Maintenance: Information processing

Answer 11

• The same events may be interpreted very differently.
• Felmless (fatal attraction phenomenon): Qualities which are initially attractive become the same qualities that end the relationship

Question 12

Maintenance: Memory bias

Answer 12

• McFarland and Ross 1987: Memories of past feelings are distorted by current feelings about a relationship
• Memory bias allows us to forget info that may threaten our current feelings about the relationship

Question 13

Maintenance: Long distance relationships

Answer 13

• LDR’s typically report high levels of dedication, relationship quality, trust and commitment
• LDR’s appear to engage in more adaptive self-disclosures which may promote intimacy

Question 14

Maintenance: Forgiveness

Answer 14

Baumeister, Exline and Sommer 1998
- Intrapersonal level: anger and blame to charity and compassion
- Interpersonal level: Express and demonstrate these feelings
Intrapersonal only is silent forgiveness and interpersonal only is hollow forgiveness.

Question 15

Covid 19 and relationship satisfaction

Answer 15

• Married people experienced a greater decline in emotional well-being than unmarried people during the pandemic Yang and Ma 2020
• There was an increase in fillings for divorce
• The pandemic can have both positive and negative consequences eg: Schmid 2021 identified 20% people reporting positive and 40% experiencing negative changes in relationship satisfaction

Question 16

Important factors in Covid 19 and relationships

Answer 16

• Stressors (fear of injections) could increase anxiety
• Compromised coping strategies and access to social support
• Separation from partners or greater time together
• Pre-existing issues

Question 17

Infidelity and Covid 19

Answer 17

Coop Gorden and Mitchell 2020
- Increased stress and decreased relationship satisfaction may lead to infidelity
- A dating site for married individuals has been adding 17000 new members per day during the pandemic
- Affairs are more likely to be discovered
- There are difficulties recovering from the affair, lack of social support or time apart
- Difficulties protecting children from the chaos

Question 18

Stanley and Markman 3 strategies for preserving relationships

Answer 18

1) Make it safe to connect
2) Do your part
3) Decide don’t slide

Question 19

What are Levinger’s 4 factors that indicate the end of a relationship (1980)?

Answer 19

1) A new life seems to be the only solution
2) Alternative partners are available
3) There is an expectation that the relationship will fall
4) There is a lack of commitment to a continuing relationship

Question 20

Duck (1988) Relationship Dissolution model

Answer 20

1) Intrapsychic phase: internal phase where individual begins to become dissatisfied
2) Dyadic phase: Dissatisfaction gets shared with the other partner
3) Social phase: the breakup becomes public
4) Grave-dressing phase: focus on closure and emotional recovery