relationships Flashcards
(80 cards)
1
Q
what are the two types of sexual selection?
A
intrasexual and intersexual
2
Q
what is intersexual selection?
A
- where one sex selects a mate based on desirable characteristics
- desirable characteristics signal high reproductive success and good genes for offspring to inherit
3
Q
give two examples of intersexual selection
A
- bright feathers eg peacocks
- strong build in humans
4
Q
what is intrasexual selection?
A
- where members of the same sex compete for access to mates
- winner gains more mating oppurtunities
5
Q
give two examples of intrasexual selection
A
- physical fights
- displays of strength or resources
6
Q
why is the 0.7 ratio suggested to be the most attractive waist to hip ratio?
A
- suggests fertility and good child bearing ability
- pass on genes and successfully reproduce
7
Q
what are the male mating strategies?
A
- courtship rituals
- size
- sperm competition
- mate guarding
- sneak copulation
8
Q
describe why males use courtship rituals as a mating strategy
A
- allows them to show of genetic potential
- allows showing of resources and ability to provide
- allows them to show generosity
9
Q
describe why males use size as a mating strategy
A
- bigger body size shows physical strength
- shows ability to protect partner and offspring
10
Q
describe why/ how males use sperm competition as a mating strategy
A
- bigger testicles and faster sperm
- heightens chances of sperm reaching egg and successful reproduction
11
Q
describe how males use mate guarding as a mating strategy
A
- keeping close eye on mate
- ensures partner isnt unfaithful
- allows them to know their offspring is theirs
- ensures they dont provide for an offspring that isnt theirs
12
Q
describe how males use sneak copulation as a mating strategy
A
- cheating on partners
- more offspring
- higher chance of passing on their genes
13
Q
what are the female mating strategies?
A
- handicap hypothesis
- sexy sons hypothesis
- courtship
14
Q
describe the handicap hypothesis as a female mating strategy
A
- women select partners with handicaps
- shows ability to to thrive despite adversities
- explains women who are attracted to drug addicts ect
15
Q
describe the sexy sons hypothesis as a female mating strategy
A
- women select males that they see as attractive
- ensures offspring will be attractive
- increases offsprings chance of successful reproduction
16
Q
describe courtship as a female mating strategy
A
- dating
- allows them to see the mans worth and ability to provide for and protect them and their offspring
17
Q
what are the evolutionary explanations for partner preference?
A
- sexual selection
- mating strategies
18
Q
describe a piece of research which supports the evolutionary explanations for partner preferences
A
Buss-
- survey of over 10000 adults age 16-25
- found men prefer younger, physically attractive women across 37 different cultures
- women prefer ambitious, older, more mature men
- men prefer more fertile women
- women prefer more secure partners
19
Q
what is Clark and Hatfields research which supports sexual selection?
A
- male and female psychology students sent out on campus and asked members of the opposite gender to sleep with them
- 0% of females agreed to sleep with the man
- 75% of men agreed to sleep with the females
- women are more choosy and protective of reproductive resources
20
Q
what is meant by anisogamy?
A
difference between reproductive materials
21
Q
what are the three factors that affect attraction in romantic relationships?
A
- self disclosure
- physical attractiveness/matching hypothesis
- filter theory
22
Q
what is meant by self disclosure in relationships?
A
- revealing of personal information to someone else
- creates sense of trust and specialness
23
Q
what is the social penetration theory in reference to self disclosure?
A
- early communication moves relationships from shallow to deep
- creates more meaningful interactions and deeper bonds between individuals
24
Q
what are the stages of self disclosure?
A
- biographical data (age,gender,ect)
- preferences (food, music, clothes)
- goals and aspirations (careers, family?)
- religious convections
- deeply held fears and fantasies
- concept of ones self
25
how does the breadth and depth of the self disclosure affect the relationship?
- beginning of rship;
reveal a lot of shallow, low risk information: breadth is wide but depth is small
- - as rship continues, self disclosure becomes deeper and more trustful
- we reveal our true selves and the relationship deepens
- wider breadth but way deeper depth
26
what did Reis and Shaver find about how reciprocity of self disclosure affects the relationship?
- reciprocity is key to development of intimacy and feelings of closeness
- when you disclose to someone, they feel special and rewarded which means they share back
- builds trust and respect
- foundation of relationship
27
how can the appropriateness of the self disclosure affect the relationship?
- if too personal information is shared too fast, other individual is scared off
- they feel the individual disclosing is willing to disclose to anyone, so dont feel special
- relationship will not develop
28
what are two pieces of research evidence that support self disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships?
• Kleinke;
individuals who were viewed as being more selective with what they shared are seen as more attractive, recipient feels special, attraction is heightened by SD
• Kito;
self disclosure was higher in japanese and american cultures in romantic relationships when compared to platonic ones, universal behaviour
29
what is the halo effect?
- people we deem as physically attractive are seen as having positive personality traits
30
what is the matching hypothesis?
- people seek partners at a similar level of attractiveness to them
- lessens chance of rejection and increases chance of reproductive success
- also lessens chance of partner cheating
- our choice of partner is a compromise
31
what is are 2 pieces of supporting evidence for physical attractiveness and the matching hypothesis as factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships?
• Murstiein;
asked Pts to judge attractiveness of real couples compared to fake couples
real couples were rated as being more close in attractiveness levels than the fake ones
• Gunnell and Ceci;
physically unattractive people were 22% more likely to get convicted in court and get longer prison sentences than more attractive people, supports halo effect
32
what is the basis of the filter theory?
- our partner choices are limited by several factors that reduce amount of possible mates
- there are 3 levels; proximity, similarity and psychological
- states that the success of a romantic relationship depends heavily on these factors
33
what are the three filters in the filter theory?
1. social demographic
2. similarity in attitudes
3. complementarity
34
35
what is the social demographic level of the filter theory?
- most basic level
- we only come across a small fraction of people who live in our area
- meet individuals with similar backgrounds to us
- same age, economic background, educational level, same hobbies or religion ect
36
what is the similarity in attitudes level of the filter theory?
- second level
- we are more likely to meet people with similar attitudes and beliefs to us
- eg protest march or group
37
what is the complementarity level of the filter theory?
- third level
- how well do our partners meet our needs?
- emotional needs ect
- crucial for deeper commitment and connection
38
what is some research which supports the filter theory?
- Festinger;
people who live near stairwells in apartment blocks know the most people in the block
supports social demographic
39
what is some research which may oppose the filter theory?
- Andersons;
cohabiting partners become more similar in emotional responses over time (emotional convergence)
cause and effect?
40
what are the 4 theories of romantic relationships?
- social exchange theory
- equity theory
- Rusbults investment model of commitment
- Ducks model of relationship breakdown
41
what is the basis of the social exchange theory of romantic relationships?
- relationships involve the exchange of resources
- based on benefits and costs of the partner
- individuals attempt to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs (minimax)
- once costs outweigh benefits, relationship breaks down
- based on perceived costs and benefits
42
what are the two ways profit can be measured in the social exchange theory?
- comparison level;
comparison on current relationships
- comparison level for alternatives(
comparison against other potential relationships: is it offering more?
43
what are the four stages of relationship development in the social exchange theory?
- sampling stage; rewards + costs assessed in a number of relationships
- bargaining stage; relationship is “costed out” and benefits and costs are identified within relationship
- commitment stage; benefits and costs become predictable as relationship enters new stage
- institutionalised stage; interactions become predictable and couple settles down
44
what is some research which supports the social exchange theory?
• Hatfield;
- partners who perceived themselves as under benefitting in a relationship where angry and felt deprived
- partners who over benefitted felt guilty
- costs : benefit is important for solid relationship
• Rusbult and Martz;
- applied social exchange theory to women in abusive relationships
- women tend to go back as they felt like the cost of being alone is greater than cost of relationship
45
what is the equity theory?
- based around fairness
- walster refined the SET
- individuals become dissatisfied when feeling like they are suffering from inequity
- over benefitting; guilt, shame
- under benefitting; anger, humiliation, resentment
- partners recognise disparity and can save the relationship
46
what are profit, distribution, dissatisfaction and realignment in reference to the equity theory?
- profit; minimax strategy
- distribution; trade offs and compensations are negotiated to achieve fairness
- dissatisfaction; greater degree of perceived inequity, greater dissatisfaction
- realignment; if restoring equity is possible, maintenance will continue with attempts to realign equity
47
what is some research that supports the equity theory?
• Dainton;
- 219 individuals in relationships
- people with perceived inequity had lower satisfaction levels
- however, individuals were motivated to realign
• Yum et al;
- cultural differences in 6 different cultures
- all cultures found that couples in equitable relationships had the most success and satisfaction and maintenance
48
what is some research which opposes the equity theory?
- Moghadden;
US students prefer equity but European students prefer equality
- incomplete, low generalisability?
49
what is Rusbults investment model of commitment?
satisfaction level, quality of alternatives and investment size all influence the commitment level of a relationship and therefore the probability of the relationship persisting
50
how does satisfaction influence commitment in Rusbults investment model?
- how well does your partner meet your needs (emotional, physical, psychological)
- very similar to previous models
- what are costs and benefits?
- when satisfaction is high, commitment is high
51
how does comparison to alternatives influence commitment in Rusbults investment model?
- does relationship stand up to potential alternatives?
- commitment is stronger when other alternatives are weak
52
how does investment size influence commitment in Rusbults commitment model?
- refers to how many resources the relationship has taken
- the longer the relationship, the more investments have been made
- ending relationship deems investments useless
- intrinsic investments; things put into the Rship: money, time, emotional effort
- extrinsic investments; things come from the relationship: children, friends, pets, house
- the more investments, the higher the commitment
53
what are the 5 maintenance behaviours in Rusbults investment model?
- accommodation; acting in a way which promotes the relationship and accommodating for partners issues
- willingness to sacrifice; putting partners interests first
- forgiveness; willingness to forgive partners mistakes: minor and serious
- positive illusions; unrealistic positivity about partners qualities
- ridiculing alternatives; minimising advantages of alternatives and viewing them negatively
54
55
what is some research which supports Rusbults investment model?
• Lin and Rusbult;
- females reported higher commitment levels when high satisfaction levels, poorer scores for alternatives, high investment scores were all present in the relationship
• Van lange et al;
- Lin and Rusbult studied Dutch individuals
- Van studied Taiwanese
- found same results so cross culture
56
what is meant by parasocial relationship?
- where an individual believes they are in a relationship which someone of a higher status than them, without that persons knowledge
- individual tends to come across this media personality in a tv show or film, and comes to think of this as a physical experience with them
- usually starts in a basis of friendship and develops into a romantic and sexual relationship
57
58
what are the three levels of parasocial relationships?
1. entertainment-social subscale
2. intense-personal subscale
3. borderline-pathological subscale
59
what is the entertainment-social subscale of a parasocial relationship?
- the lowest, least intense level
- where celebrities are seem as a source of entertainment and a topic for lighthearted gossip with friends
- most people are here majority of the time
60
what is the intense-personal subscale of a parasocial relationship?
- the second deepest, most intense level
- may see the celebrity as a soulmate and have intense interest in their personal life
- typical for teenagers
- may try to identify with the celebrity
61
what is the borderline-personal subscale of a parasocial relationship?
- most intense level
- taking celebrity worship to extreme
- has obsessive fantasies about the celebrity
- may spend large sums of money on memorabilia and may stalk them
- may believe feelings would be reciprocated if they met the celebrity
62
what is the absorption-addiction model of parasocial relationships?
- a model that explains the tendency to form parasocial relationships in terms of deficiencies people have in their own lives
- suggests parasocial relationships allow people to escape their own lives
63
what is the absorption level of a parasocial relationship as modelled by McCutcheon?
- an individual may feel dissatisfied with their life
- so they follow and admire celebrities to fill a gap
- allows the individual to “absorb” some of the celebrities success and feel good about themself
- making up for a deficit in their life
64
what is the addiction level of a parasocial relationship as modelled by McCutcheon?
- extreme cases where parasocial relationships become addictive for the individual
- criminal behaviour may occur
- individual is distorted from reality and may genuinely believe they are in a relationship with their celebrity
65
what is some research that supports the ideas behind why a parasocial relationship is formed?
- Greenwood and Long;
found some evidence that people develop parasocial relationships as a way of dealing with a recent loss, or lonliness
66
what is some opposing research towards parasocial relationships?
- Chory-Assad and Yanen;
failed to find any significant correlation between intensity of loneliness and intensity of parasocial relationship
67
what is some research which supports the levels of parasocial relationships?
• Meloy;
- stalkers tend to have a history of failed sexual relationships and tend not to be in a relationship at the time of stalking
- stalking tends to be a direct response to social and sexual incompetence
- provides support that the individuals may be absorbing the success
• Malby;
individuals in the entertainment-social level of a parasocial relationship were mentally healthy, whereas those in the other categories tend to develop and be mentally unwell
68
69
what are the five minor reasons for relationship breakdown in Ducks model?
- predisposing personal factors; bad habits, bad hygiene ect
- lack of skills
- lack of maintenance
- precipitating factors; love rivals, boredom ect
- lack of motivation
70
what are the four phases of dissolution in Ducks model of relationship breakdown?
1. intrapsychic
2. Dyadic
3. social
4. grave dressing
71
what happens in the intrapsychic phase of relationship dissolution in Ducks model?
- one partner begins to feel dissatisfied
- focuses on partners behaviour, assesses adequacy of partners performance, focusing on negative aspects, consider costs of withdrawing, private dilemma of speaking out or not
72
what happens in the Dyadic stage of relationship dissolution in Ducks model?
- dissatisfaction is discussed with the partner
- confronts partner about inadequacy, negotiations of future behaviours, potentially an attempt to repair, both asses costs of withdrawing
- if nothing changes, next stage is activated
73
what happens in the Social stage of relationship dissolution in Ducks model?
- Breakdown made public to friends and family
- negotiation of investments may occur
- gossip in family and friend circles, negotiations with partner of post dynamic, blame attributed, consideration of social backlash
74
what happens in the grave dressing stage of relationship dissolution in Ducks model?
- post relationship perception is created
- ex partners rebuild their lives
- getting over it behaviours, retrospect, public distribution of own version of events
75
what is some research which supports Ducks model of relationship breakdown?
- Tashiro and Frazier;
found when 92 students were surveyed about relationship breakdown, students reported personal growth after breakdown.
Supports grave dressing
76
how do attachment behaviours and parasocial relationships interact?
- proximity seeking; keeping updated knowledge celebrities ect
- secure base; very limited chances of rejection, secure base where they can explore other relationships from
- protest at disruption; prolonged distress following separation or loss of the celebrity eg from social media or tv show
77
78
how does attachment style influence the likelihood of parasocial relationships occuring?
- securely attached individuals may have a healthy level of parasocial relationships as they can securely and easily form relationships in real life
- avoidant attached individuals dont form relationships in real life or parasocially
- anxiously attached individuals often have intense celebrity worship as they can do so without fear of rejection
79
what is meant by absense of gating online in virtual relationships?
- gates are behaviours which may form barriers to prevent any progression of a relationship irl
- online it is unlikely that we will observe these gates
- gates could be low levels of attractiveness, being hard to talk to, interrupting often ect
- due to the intense nature of virtual relationships, by the time we meet up with these people their gates do not put us off as we have already formed this strong bond
80
