Midterm II Flashcards
(31 cards)
5 Strands
- Romantic Attraction - infatuation, love, emotional desire
- Sexual Identity - understand and label interactions and attraction
- Sexual Arousal - physiological response
- Sexual Attraction - fantasies and feelings of lust
- Sexual Behaviour - sexual interactions people engage in
Similarities and Differences among mixed and same sex couples
Similarities
- sort of problems faced
- way they change over time
- satisfaction in their unions
Differences
- division of labour (sam sex more equal)
- solve conflicts more positively (same sex) versus more power imbalances (mixed sex)
Gay - most sex
Lesbian - longer duration and more orgasms
Mixed couples - in the middle
Conclusions about efforts to change sexual orientation
- change sex orientation extremely hard, unsuccessful, harmful
- genes account for 1/3 of variability
- exposure to certain hormone sin womb (testosterone)
- biological underpinning = not easy to change
Bisexual
- most common sexual minority
- “invisible identity”
- less likely to come out
- “transitional”
- higher rates of abuse
Asexual
- lack of sexual attraction
- can still have romantic attraction
- not a mental disorder
- can become sexually aroused
- remains but could change
Percentage of straight individuals engaging in same sex sexual behaviour
41500 British individuals
- 28% of men
- 45% of women
who engaged in same sex behaviour in the past 5 years are still heterosexual
Sexual Fluidity
- shift over time in sexual attraction
- reveals not strictly bound to ones sexual orientation
- not the same as bisexuality
- women exhibit more sexual fluidity - more in connection to emotional or sexual
- can be situational
Kinsey Scale
1-6
- only considers sexual behaviour and attraction not romantic or emo connection
- only assumes a binary view of gender (male/female)
- does not capture the complexity of sexual fluidity
Which personality trait has the biggest impact on relationships
O - openness
C - conscientiousness
E - extraversion
A - agreeableness
N- neuroticism (biggest impact)
Dependancy Regulation Model
- believes they are not worth loving
- wrongly assumes partner thinks the same - they overcompensate
- partner becomes frustrated
- relationship dissatisfaction
Intergenerational Transmission Effects
- relationship patterns, etc. are passed down from parents
- children observe and experience
- conflict = bad communication skills
- ## kids of divorce = 10-20% more likely to divorce
Divorce
- problem lies more with parental conflict
“Good Divorce”
- parental relationship remains functional
- joint decisions and stable routines
- relationship with both parents
- does not put the child in the middle
- children in good divorces have fewer behavioural problems but still low in self esteem, etc.
How past relationships influence future partnerships
- most patterns remained stable across multiple relationships
- ## contrast effect - bad ending to good beginning
How important is physical appearance in romantic attraction?
- self report = men prefer physical appearance more than women
- observational report = they equally
- self fulfilling prophecy
- we tend to like average and symmetrical faces
- waist to hip 0.7
- shoulder to hip 1.4
- matching phenomenon
Social Penetration Theory
relationships develop through gradual increases of self disclosure
- trust and comfort
- reciprocity
- overall differences (ex. neurotic people, or cultural differences)
Gender differences in approaching potential partners based on attractiveness
- men more likely to approach despite their own level of attractiveness
- evolutionary psychology = more mates
- women through more passive ways - to control situation
- women more selective - match or exceed their own attractiveness
- women care about psychical attractiveness but evaluate other things before engaging (weigh attractiveness differently)
Halo effect
assumption that attractive people are more healthier
Inertia
- once on a path, we will continue on that path
- partners more intertwined = harder to leave
- regardless of happiness
- constraints accumulate to create inertia
Sliding
- drifting into milestones rather than intentional decision making
Deciding
- making an active decision out of love, and dedication
Dedication
- desire to stay in relationship because of love, shared values, and couple identity (we versus me and you)
- “want to” commitment
Constraint
- external factors that make it difficult to leave
- something once considered a dedication can turn into a constraint
“have to” commitment
Perceived Constraints
- subjective reasons why someone might stay
- usually stems from internal pressure
- fear or uncertainty
“i don’t have better options” “i’ve invested so much”
