Relationships Flashcards
(15 cards)
Clark and Hatfield - different sexual habits
attractive male/female researchers ask strangers for sex
0% of females agreed
75% of males agreed
supports ansiogamy and evolutionary explanations
BUT - social reasons could cause the difference
Buss - universal mate preferences
aksed 10,000 people from 37 countries found universal mate preferences men with resources/traits that translate to resources women younger than the man women with hourglass figure
Walster et al. matching hypothesis
people want their partner to be as desirable as they are
desirable on physical and social level
influenced by the probability of them saying yes
Dance study:
752 uni undergrads invited to “get acquainted dance”
believed they were matched to their ideal partner
actually randomly matched
questionnaires about their partner and success of date
during the dance and 6 months after
regardless of their attractiveness they reacted positively to more attractive partners - more likely to organise more dates
doesn’t support the matching hypothesis theory
Kerchoff and Davis - filter theory
looked at students in long (18+ months) and short (18- months) relationships
3 main filters for partners
social demography - how easy they are to access
geographically and socially
similarity in attitudes
in first 18 months must establish similar beliefs/values
complimentary of needs
offer what the other wants
Thibaut and Kelley - Social Exchange Theory
relationships based on exchanges
maximise rewards and minimise costs
rewards must outweigh costs for relationship to stay
4 stage process
Sampling - explore cost/reward of relationships
Bargaining - try to get more for less
Commitment - reward exchange becomes predictable
Institutionalisation - fully settled down
compare costs with potential other relationships
Clark and Mills - 2 kinds of couples
exchange couple - in line with social exchange theory
communal couple - more worried about the others’ needs
contradicts social exchange theory and equity theory
Walster - equity theory
people want fairness in their relationships, not profit
overbenefitting and underbenefitting both inequity
underbenefitting party more likely to end relationship
Rusbult - Investment Model
3 factors affect commitment
Satisfaction
Comparison with alternatives
Investment - what would be lost/wasted if it ends?
2 types of investment
intrinsic investments - things you put in e.g. money
extrinsic investments - things gained together e.g. memories
college students do questionnaires over 7 months
notes satisfaction, investment, and commitment
found all 3 factors contribute to commitment and breakup - breakup also required available alternatives
Rusbult - 5 ways to commitment
Accommodation - e.g. change your diet
Willingness to sacrifice - put their needs first
Forgiveness - forgive easily/quickly
Positive Illusions - unrealistic view of partner
Ridiculing alternatives - see your relationship as better than others’
Rusbult - research support
college students do questionnaires over 7 months
notes satisfaction, investment, and commitment
found all 3 factors contribute to commitment
Duck - phase model of breakdowns
Intrapsychic phase - within the mind, think about everything, withdraw socially
Dyadic phase - confront partner, results in reconciliation or escalation
Social phase - becomes public
Grave dressing phase - create “obituary” of relationship, what it was like, why it died,
Resurrection Processes - prepare for future relationships, personal growth and understanding
Virtual relationships
Walther - hyperpersonal model
people online can’t out us to real social network
self-disclose quicker without fear of consequence
Absence of gating
anxiety, unattractiveness, distance - none are problems online
Sprecher - self-disclosure
Surveyed 50 hetero couples
Self-disclosure predicts if relationship lasts 7+ years
Tang - self-disclosure
Self-disclosure is culturally biased
Different cultures willing to disclose different types of information
Western/individualistic cultures more willing to disclose sexual intimacy/history info than collectivist cultures
Laurencau - self-disclosure
Married PPS write daily diaries about self-disclosure and intimacy
Positive correlation between self-disclosure and intimacy
- asking to write about intimacy makes them more intimate
