relationships Flashcards
(25 cards)
what is anisogamy
the difference between male and female sex cells. male sex sperms are small and mobile, women sex cells are large and limited in number.
what is a consequence of anisogamy
theres a shortage if fertile men but never a shortage of fertile females
what is inter sex selection
this refers to the startergies that males use to select females or that females use to select males, women seek indicators of socioecnomic status and men prioritise physical appearance(singh found waist-hip ratio is more important to men than body weight)
what is the a03 for inter sex selection
supported by buss- used 37 cultures, analysed the results of 10,000 questionnaires asking pps to rate factors such as age, intelligence and sociability for their importance in a partner, found men valued attractiveness more than women and women valued a good earning potential.
buss uses indigenous research
buss uses a large sample size
has high face validity- the existence of trophy wives gold diggers and sugar daddies and females that alter their appearance with make up and surgery to appear younger supports the theory.
supported by clark and hatfield- they sent attractive males and female psychology students across the campus of a university. they approached people saying i have noticed you around campus, i find you attractive,will you sleep with me, 75% of men said yes and 0% of women said yes. shows men desire attractiveness and females are picky
what is intra sexual selection
this is within each sex, the stratergies amongst males to be selected, its the preferred statergy of the male. theres a competition between males to be selected by a female and the winner gets to reproduce and the characteristics contributed to his competition are passed on.
this has led to dimorphism- males and females look different as males are the ones competing larger males are at an advantage whereas females dont compete and dont have to be larger. males are 15% larger than females.
men are also very aggressive in order to protect fertile females from competing males
what is the a03 for intrasex selection
supported by evidence from buss-found that men are more likely than women to use threats of violence towards others who make threats of violence towards their mate whilst females are more likely to use verbal aggression towards rivals and they target attractiveness. Daly and wilson also found that 90% of all same sex murders involve men at an age when mate competition is most intense and that a large proportion of this violence is connected to sexual rivalry.
it cant explain partner preferences for gay people. lawson et al looked at personal ads placed by heterosexual and homosexual people, found that the preferences of homosexual men and women differ just as they do in heterosexual men and women, men emphasized attractiveness, women resources. it shows men and women want these things even when they dont want kids.
what is parental investment
any investment by a parent in an offspring that increases the offsprings chance of survival
what is the difference in parental investment between men and women
men have low parental investment as they have low paternity confidence and they can produce a vast number of children in their life, since they have low parental investment it makes reproductive sense to mate with as many females as possible allowing his genes to be passed on
females have high parental investment as they are 100% sure the child is theirs. they must invest heavily in the child so that they will survive and pass on her genes. as they have high parental investment it makes sense for them to be choosy and only mate with a male she is sure will provide and protect her offspring.
whats the difference in anisogamy between men and women
women release one egg a month whilst males release millions of small sperm
females have only one conception chance per month whilst men can desert and fertilise many other females.
women feed offspring and have suppressed ovulation for years whilst men arent involved
what is the A03 for parental investment
supported by clark and hatfield- men were like that because of low parental investment
counter- low population validity because it uses university students only
high ecological validity
low control-demand characteristics
may not be relevant to todays society- due to changes in social attitudes its more acceptable for women to be sexually active and to talk freely about sex, sex isnt directly linked to reproduction and women are less dependant than previous generations so male resources arent needed as much as they were before. women have a greater role in the workplace now. findings may not be relevant today
what is self disclosure
sharing personal info about the self which leads to increased attraction
what is the social penetration theory
this focuses on the gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else. when one partner reveals info they are signalling that they trust the person theyre self disclosing to, the other person then has to do the same. as each partner gradually discloses more and more personal info they penetrate more deeply into each others lives and gain a greater understanding of each other.
what is the breadth and depth of self disclosure
at the start of the relationship you disclose low risk information we would share with other people as if we reveal too much about ourselves our partner may lose attraction
as the relationship develops self disclosure becomes deeper as we progressively reveal more about ourselves. a wider range of topics are covered- high risk info such as painful memories and strongly held beliefs are discussed.
what is reciprocity of self disclosure
there must be a reciprocal element to high risk self disclosure. theres an expectation that as one person has begun to self disclose theres an expectation that any response will be understanding and empathetic, this increases attraction due to increased intimacy that deepens the relationship making it more likely to be maintained.
what is the A03 for self disclosure
there is supporting evidence from sprecher and hendrick-they conducted a longitudinal study of mainly white middle class heterosexual dating couples using questionnaires and found correlations between levels of satisfaction and reciprocal self disclosure. men and women who self disclosed and believed their partner did the same were more satisfied than those who didnt
counter- culturally biased, used white american middle classed couples in america- tang et als meta analysis concluded men and women in the US self disclose more sexual thoughts and feelings than couples in china. each of these levels of satisfaction was linked to relationship satisfaction in those cultures suggesting high levels of seuxal self disclosure are a feature of relationships in the US but not in china
the research is correlational- the research doesnt demonstrate causation as we dont know whether self disclosure is the reason for a strong relationship or whether there are other factors
led to practical application-it helps people that want to improve their relationships- hass and stafford found 57% of gay men and women in their study said an open and honest self disclosure maintained and deepend their relationship. this is good as if less skilled individuals can learn to use self disclosure effectively it can benefit their relationship
what is the a01 for physical attractiveness
schackelford and larsen found that people with symmetrical faces are rated more attractive as it might be a signal of genetic fitness
what is the halo effect
physical attractiveness matters as people have preconceived ideas about personality traits of attractive people. dion summed this up with the quote “what is attractive is good”, attractive people are rated as king sociable and successful compared to those that are rated as unattractive.. because of these beliefs we behave positively towards them and they respond positively back.
the halo effect refers to the fact that one distinguishing feature tends to have a disproportionate influence on our judgement of a persons other attributes
what is the A03 for physical attractiveness
supported by eastwick and finkel- they used evidence from speed dating and backed this uo with a longitudinal follow up procedure 30 days later.prior to the speed dating sessions pps showed traditional sex differences when stating the importance of physical attractiveness and earning prospects in an ideal partner. this shows physical attractiveness plays a part in physical attractiveness
supported by meltzer-meltzer found that objective ratings of wives attractiveness were positively related to levels of husbands satisfaction at the beginning of the marriage and remained that way over at least the first four years of marriage. this is strenghtened by the findings that womens objective ratings of husbands physical attractiveness werent related to wives marital satisfaction.
theres support for evolutionary processes- cunningham et al found that female features of large eyes,prominent cheekbones,small nose and high eyebrows were rated highly attractive by white hispanic and asian males. the researchers concluded what is deemed as physically attractive is consistent across different socieities.facial symmetry is a sign of genetic fitness and therefore perpetuated similarily in all cultures.
what is the matching hypothesis
this claims when people look for a romantic relationship they look for someone whose level of attractiveness matches their own. by going for someone in their league they maximise their chances of a successful outcome.
what is the A03 for the matching hypothesis
supported by murstein-aimed to find out if partners in established relationsips were perceived as a match for physical attractiveness, each partner was photographed seperately then scored for physical attractiveness by independent judges using a 5 point scale. the pps had to rate their own attractiveness and their partners attractiveness both the partners and judges had to rate a controlgroup. murstein found the real life couples receieved similar ratings and these were significantly more alike than the ratings given to random couples. furthermore how partners rated themselves was significantly more similar than self ratings for random couples. this is a strength as mursteins study supports the matching hypothesis theory
counter- using photographs limits the internal validity of the research. two dimensional photographs may not accurately represent the attractiveness and this can impact the rating given to the individual and makes the results invalid.
mursteins research doesnt establish cause and effect-it shows a positive correlation between the ratings of attractivrness for the real couples but their could be other reasons for a relationship to be formed.this is a limitation as people come to a relationship offering many desirable characteristics and physical attractiveness is only one of them. too simplistic.
suffers from culture bias-matching for looks is important in individualistic cultures where relationships are voluntary and temporary. in collectivist cultures the greater importance is placed on socioeconomic status. better at explaining relationships for individualistic cultures.
what is the filter theory
explanation of relationship formation and factors affecting attraction, it states a series of different factors progressively reduces the range of available romantic partners to a much smaller pool of possibilities. we tend to be attracted to those who pass through a series of filters.
what is social demography
this refers to a wide range of factors all of which influence the chances of potential partners meeting in the first place such as proximity social class level of education ethnic group religion and so on. in this stage attraction has more to do with social rather than individual characteristics.
what is similarity in attitudes
this involves individual psychological characteristics , specifically their agreement on basic attitudes and basic values, through disclosures to each other individuals can weigh up their decisions about whether to continue their relationship or not, kerchkoff and davis found that similarity of attitudes was found as the central of importance at the start of a relationship and was the best predictor of a relationship becoming stable
what is complimentary of needs
this concerns the ability of romantic partners to meet each others needs. people who have different needs like each other because they provide each other with mutual satisfaction of these opposed needs. e.g. women who lack economic resources may feel attracted to men who are good financial prospects and good providers. it gives partners the feeling that theyll form a whole.
