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Psychology > Relationships > Flashcards

Relationships Flashcards

1
Q

What does a failure to mate suggest

A
  • Failure to pass on genes
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2
Q

What is the difference between natural and sexual selection?

A
  • Natural = the ability to survive in a particular environment which impacts on genes or traits
  • Sexual = characteristics that maximises an individuals ability to reproduce successfully so they can be highly adaptive and sexually selected.
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3
Q

What is the A03 evaluation of natural/sexual selection?

A
  • Conflict between natural and sexual selection
  • Traits which promote sexual selection seem to be unhelpful for survival
  • For example, a peacock’s feathers are not helpful for hiding from predators
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4
Q

What are the 2 types of sexual selection?

A
  • Inter sexual selection = members of 1 sex expresses preferences for members of the other sex based on certain attractive qualities
  • Intra-sexual selection = members of 1 sex compete with eachother fir access to the opposite sex
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5
Q

What study supports inter-sexual selection?

A
  • Women are more attracted to masculine features when they are ovulating, but more attracted to feminine features during the rest of time
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6
Q

What is the A03 evaluation for the evolutionary explanations for partner preferences ? (3 seperate points)

A
  • Very difficult to test (unfalsifiable), they formulate explanations after the event and evolutionary adaptations occur too slowly for them to be studied scientifically.
  • The theory of mate preferences is not a valid description of modern, human relationships, women are far less dependent, doesn’t apply to non-heterosexual relationships.

-Male preferences for younger women may not be as universal as suggested
- Kendrick et al found that adolescent boys are typically attracted to women 5 years older than themselves, despite these women rarely showing any interest in them.

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7
Q

What are the 3 things that effect attraction?

A

1) Self-disclosure
2) The matching hypothesis - physical attraction
3) Filter theory

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8
Q

What is self-disclosure?

A
  • Revealing personal information about yourself, thoughts feelings and experiences
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9
Q

What are the 3 ways self-disclosure can influence attraction?

A
  • Those who engage in intimate disclosures/open are generally more liked than those who do not.
  • People disclose more to those they like in the first place
  • The act of self-disclosure makes us like a person we’re talking
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10
Q

When does self-disclosure work best?

A
  • Should be reciprocal
  • There should be a balance
  • We will be attracted to people who disclose personal details rather than superficial, but cant go in too deep too fast (the type)
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11
Q

What is the A03 evaluation for self-disclosure?

A
  • Balance is key
  • We would be very suspicious who disclosed nothing about their past
  • We would also be very wary of a person who tells us their life-story within mins of meeting
  • Supporting evidence = Sprecher et al had 2 conditions, one with a reciprocal interaction with someone you dont know, and a non-reciprocal interaction with someone you dont know.
  • P’s who disclosed in a reciprocal way reported greater liking, closeness and enjoyment of interaction.
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12
Q

What is physical attractiveness?

A
  • Good looking people are deemed to be more attractive
  • For women especially, its a cue to her reproductive health
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13
Q

What is the matching hypothesis?

A
  • Suggests that people form relationships with other people they are similar to in terms of physical attractiveness and other personal characteristics
  • The more social desirable a person is, the more describable they would expect a dating/marriage partner to be
  • The matching hypothesis is important because of the notion of realistic choices because each individual is influenced by the chances of having their affection reciprocated.
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14
Q

What is the A03 evidence for matching hypothesis?

A
  • Silverman found a strong positive correlation in attractiveness ratings between photos of actual couples suggesting that as attractiveness rating in 1 partner increases, so does the rating foe the other partner.
  • However, physical attractiveness is not everything, men especially can overcome lack of physical attractiveness with other characteristics (money)
    -This means complex matching where an attractive female marries a wealthy male can also be an explanation for attractiveness
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15
Q

What is the filter theory? Name the 3 factors

A
  • Kerckoft and Davies in 1962 suggests social and personal factors allow us to filter potential relationships from all eligible partners
  • Social demography
  • Similarity in attitudes
  • Complementary
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16
Q

What is social demography?

A
  • Factual information like age, location, ethnicity, religion
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17
Q

What is similarity in attitudes?

A
  • Basic values and attidudes
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18
Q

What is complimentary?

A
  • Harmoniousness of needs and skills
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19
Q

How does proximity affect relationships (A03 supporting filter theory - social demography)

A

• Friendships were followed in a small 2 floor apartment building
• Neighbours were mostly likely to friends
• Least likely were people on separate floors
• Those near ground-floor or staircases had friends on both floors

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20
Q

However, what can proximity be explained by?

A
  • Can be explained by familiarity
  • Mita showed participants 2 photographs of themselves, one a mirror of the other.
  • The most preferred the mirror image, whilst their friends preferred the original photo because the friends are more familiar with original image, it looks most like their friend.
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21
Q

Similarity in attitude (A03 supporting filter theory)

A
  • Kerchoff and Davies found that similarity in attitudes and values was of central importance at the start of a relationship and was the best predictor of the relationship being stable
22
Q

Discuss the direction of causality

A
  • However, filter theory suggests people are initially attracted to eachother because they are similar
  • Anderson found cohabiting partners became more similar in their emotional responses over time, a phenomenon called attitude realignment
23
Q

Complementarity (A03 supporting filter theory)

A
  • Complementarity will only work if there are also similarities. Partners may feel they are very different, but they would not be compatible if they didnt at least agree on important things such as attitudes to family life.
  • Supporting evidence = Investigation of 25 married couples in the US and suggested that social needs should be complimentary rather than similar if marriages are to work. If one partner was low in an attribute, the other seemed to be high.
24
Q

What is the overall evaluation of filter theory?

A
  • This theory may lack temporal validity - the change in social values, online dating has occurred in between the studies which may have confounded the results.
  • People’s values and needs change over time, partners don’t change in the same way as us so making future predictions of relationships is difficult.
25
Q

What are the 3 theories of romantic relationships?

A
  • Social exchange
  • Equity
  • Investment
26
Q

Describe the economic theory as part of SET

A
  • Commitment to any relationship is dependent on the probability of it
  • Each person tries to maximise their rewards and minimise their costs
  • It assumes that those who offer rewards are attractive and those involved in costs are less attractive
27
Q

What are the 2 levels of comparison?

A

1) The comparisons between the cost and rewards of the current relationship measured against our expectation
2) Comparing current relationship with an alternative relationship

28
Q

A relationship will be maintained if…(according to SET)

A
  • It’s balanced, no alternative and expectation is met
29
Q

What is the supporting evidence by Simpson for SET?

A
  • Found that when p’s are asked to rate members of the opposite sex for attractiveness, those in a commitment relationship gave lower ratings, suggesting they’re actively trying to maintain their current relationship
30
Q

What is the supporting evidence from Kurdeck and Schmitt for SET?

A
  • Investigated the importance of social exchange factors in determining in determining relationship quality in 185 couples
  • 44 heterosexual married
  • 50 same sex male
  • 50 same sex female
  • Questionnaires were about satisfaction, no discussion of answers were allowed
  • Satisfaction was associated with perception of many benefits of the current relationship
  • Seeing alternatives was less attractive
31
Q

Evaluate SET

A
  • Reductionist = it reduces complex relationship satisfaction to profitability and ignores emotion, culture, social context
  • Collectivist cultures dont care about profits
  • Individual differences = different people have perceptions of relationships and expectations
32
Q

What is equity?

A
  • People will be more satisfied of there is an equal give or take by both parties
33
Q

How is equity different to SET?

A
  • Individuals are trying to maximise equity and minimise inequity in costs and rewards in relationships
34
Q

A relationship will be maintained if…(equity)

A
  • If there is fairness
35
Q

What is the A03 supporting evidence for equity? Questionnaires

A
  • Asked over 200 married couples to fill out questionnaires on equity and satisfaction level
  • Partners who perceived their relationship as equitable described the highest levels of satisfaction
  • Those that recorded having over-benefited, reported the next highest level of satisfaction
  • Those that under benefited has the lowest level of satisfaction
36
Q

What is a weakness of using questionnaires for relationship studies?

A
  • It may lead to social desirability in answers
37
Q

Evaluate equity (gender, culture and causality)

A

Gender = important gender differences, Sprecher found women are more disturbed in under benefiting relationships and feel more guilt in over benefiting relationships, this indicates differences between males and females which may result in alpha bias

Culture = a researcher found that both males and females from Jamaica claimed to be the most satisfied when over benefiting and not when relationships were fair. Equity may be less important

Causality = Clark argues most relationships dont think in terms of regard and equity, if those thoughts occur it suggest they are unhappy. Inequity is the consequence, not the cause of the relationship breakup.

38
Q

What does the investment theory do?

A
  • Adds to SET
39
Q

What are the 4 main strands to the investment model?

A
  • Satisfaction = like SET, satisfaction is a product of the outcomes of a relationship
  • Qualitiy of alternatives = if there is a more attractive alternative then a person is more likely to end current relationship
  • Investment = anything a person puts into a relationship that will be lost if they leave
  • Commitment level = the likelihood that a relationship will persist, highest in those who see few gains if they leave a relationship
40
Q

According to the investment model, a relationship will be maintained if…

A
  • You feel like you will loose too much if you leave
41
Q

What is rusbults supporting evidence for the investment model?

A
  • Asked college students in heterosexual relationships to complete questionnaires over 7months, satisfaction, comparison and investment contributed to a commitment and relationship breakdown
  • High satisfaction and investment seem to be important in committed relationships
  • Quality of alternatives was a key factor in breakups
42
Q

What is Le and Agnews supporting evidence for the investment model?

A
  • Studied males and females from different cultures
  • Results showed that across 52 studies, 3 features were highly correlated
  • Commitment had the strongest correlation
43
Q

Evaluate the investment model in comparison to SET and ethics

A
  • The model is an improvement in relation to other theories
  • Rusbults model explains why people stay in relations jobs that appear to offer few rewards
  • Carrying out research in this sensitive area raises particular issues of vulnerability (ps may experience distress)
44
Q

What are the 5 stages if a relationship breakdown (explain)

A
  1. Intrapsychic = One person admits their dissatisfaction to themselves (will say ‘I cant stand this anymore’
  2. Dyadic = A person confronts their partner and voices their dissatisfaction (will say ‘I would be justified with withdrawing’
  3. Social = The partners involve friends and family (will say ‘I mean it’)
  4. Grave dressing = An attempt to get over it and put it behind you (will say ‘time to get a new life’
  5. Resurrection = Move beyond the pain and experience personal growth (will say ‘I am a different person now’
45
Q

What are the 5 stages of relationship breakdown and explain each one

A
  1. Intrapsychic = 1 person admits their dissatisfaction to themselves
  2. Dyadic = A person confronts their partner and voices their dissatisfaction
  3. Social = The partners involve friends and family
  4. Grave dressing = An attempt to get over it and put it behind you
  5. Resurrection = Move beyond the pain and experience personal growth
46
Q

What is the supporting evidence from Tashrino and Frazier of relationship breakdown?

A
  • Surveyed undergraduates who had recently broke up from a romantic relationship
  • They reported both personal distress and personal growth
  • Breaking up gave them new insights into themselves and a clearer idea about future partners
47
Q

Evaluate the useful application of Ducks relationship breakdown model

A
  • Application for interventions
  • Couples counselling can suggest interventions appropriate to that phase which might save the relationship
48
Q

Discuss difference in personal growth as a weakness for Ducks relationship breakdown model

A
  • It only accounts for the person who decides to break up as you go through the stages but the person being broken up with wouldnt have had time to go through stages
  • Research has found those who did not initiate the break up were more miserable
49
Q

Discuss individual differences as a weakness for Ducks model of relationsip breakdown

A
  • The stages may not be passed through the same order, some couples may experience the social stage first;
50
Q

What is a paradoxical relationship?

A
  • One sided relationships
  • A relationship that develops in a one side fashion with someone who cant reciprocate (celebrity, tv character)
51
Q

What are the 3 levels of parasocial relationships and explain them

A
  1. Entertainment social = Celebrities viewed as a fuel for social interaction like gossiping about someone in a workplace or school
  2. Intense-personal = Intense thoughts and feelings are felt about the celebrity and people feel the need to find everything out about the object of their affection.
  3. Borderline pathological = Features uncontrollable and extreme behaviours. These might include spending lots of money or willing to commit an illegal act at the celebrity say so.
52
Q

What is the supporting evidence for levels of parasocial relationships? (Schiappa)

A

P - A strength of levels of parasocial relationships is that there is supporting evidence
E - For example, a researcher carried out a meta-analysis of studies that had explored factors instrumental in forming PSR’s. It was found that people with higher levels of PSR’s watched more TV. There was a positive correlation between people believing TV characters were real and their likelihood to form a PSR
T - Therefore this research provides evidence that there are clear levels to PSR’s which increases the validity to this theory.
H - However, this research shows correlational results so doesn’t show clear cause and effect as there may be other variables besides the TV forming PSR’s

Psychology (10 decks)

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